Compare places

Two or three clusters, read side by side across sectors, research, companies, capital, infrastructure, government designations and UKIZ relevance. There is no score and no ranking: British clusters are different from one another, not better or worse than one another.

Choose up to three clusters

Side by side

Dimension	Cardiff & South WalesWales	Bristol & BathSouth West	Newcastle & the North EastNorth East
Sectors	Semiconductors, Advanced Materials, Creative Industries Supporting: Clean Energy, Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Technologies	Semiconductors, Robotics & Autonomous Systems, Quantum Technologies, Defence & Security Supporting: Creative Industries, Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Clean Energy	Clean Energy, Mobility & Transport Technology, Advanced Manufacturing Supporting: Life Sciences, Digital Technologies, Robotics & Autonomous Systems
Research	Cardiff University Swansea University	University of Bristol University of the West of England Bristol Robotics Laboratory	Newcastle University Durham University
Companies	South Wales compound semiconductor cluster	Bristol semiconductor and processor design cluster	Not recorded on the map.
Infrastructure	Not recorded on the map. Compound semiconductor fabrication and research facilities, materials and coatings research, production studios.	National Composites Centre Quantum and robotics laboratories, national composites facilities and aerospace test capability.	Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Offshore renewable test facilities, battery production investment and university research centres.
Capital	Public and corporate capital dominate; venture funding is limited by capital intensity.	An established angel and seed base with strong deep tech interest; growth rounds usually come from London or the US.	Infrastructure and development finance, with limited venture capital relative to industrial scale.
Government programmes	Wales Investment Zone designations — Investment Zones	No place-based designation recorded.	North East Investment Zone — Investment Zones
What exists	The UK's compound semiconductor cluster, combining research, fabrication and supply chain, alongside steel and coatings materials research, and a significant screen production economy.	Semiconductor and processor design, quantum engineering, robotics and autonomous systems, aerospace and composites, and a creative and screen economy of national significance.	Offshore renewable energy testing at national scale, battery and electrification investment, ageing and life sciences research and a strong engineering base.
What's missing · UKIZ interpretation	Design demand. Fabrication capability needs a pipeline of UK customers designing products that use it, and capital patient enough for semiconductor timelines.	Fabrication and volume production capacity to match the design strength, and hardware-friendly capital. Companies scale by moving production abroad.	Supply chain retention. Britain builds offshore capacity while importing much of the equipment; local firms often serve as installers rather than manufacturers.
What could connect · UKIZ interpretation	South Wales fabrication connected to Bristol and Cambridge chip design and to defence, automotive and energy customers who currently source overseas.	Bristol design capability connected to South Wales compound semiconductor fabrication and to composites and aerospace manufacturing — a western technology corridor with a complete chain.	Offshore testing capability connected to Teesside and Humber industrial land, Sheffield manufacturing research and domestic energy buyers — an energy supply chain rather than an energy market.
UKIZ relevance	Compound semiconductors are a genuine national specialism with a fragile ownership base. The proposed Wales mission focuses on keeping the value chain here.	Bristol's design and robotics capability has historically been acquired rather than scaled. The proposed zone concentrates on the capital and customer connections that let companies stay independent.	The region has the industrial land, the ports and the skills base. The proposed North East mission focuses on retaining the supply chain, not only the assembly.
Last verified	15 August 2026	15 August 2026	15 August 2026

Proposed by UKIZ · independent · not a government designation

Back to the map →Methodology →