Newport Wafer Fab (Vishay $177 m acquisition Mar 2024), IQE Cardiff CSconnected (£37.9 m City Deal).
Cross-border semi-fab workforce mobilisation against Newport Wafer Fab (acquired by Vishay Intertechnology from Nexperia for $177 m, completed 6 March 2024; 200 mm wafers, 30,000+ wafers/month; pivot toward SiC/GaN) and IQE Cardiff / CSconnected cluster (world\\'s first compound-semiconductor cluster; £37.9 m Cardiff Capital Region City Deal; 2,700 jobs; £1 bn regional cluster value) — UK National Security and Investment Act 2021.
Request Technical BriefingRegulator exposure profile
- NSI Act 2021 + FM Global28%
- Sponsor Licence + Skilled Worker24%
- HSE EH40 + SEMI S2/S824%
- CITB + CIS + CSCS24%
Newport Wafer 200mm + IQE compound-semi pilot lines.
Newport Wafer Fab 200mm SiC/GaN production + IQE Cardiff compound-semiconductor cleanrooms ladder ISO Class 1-9. SEMI S2/S8 + FM Global FM 7-7 + HSE EH40 workplace exposure limits.
▲ ISO Class 1 · litho / process
- Class 1-3 fulfilled
Lithography / process
- ≤ 10 part. ≥ 0.1µm/m³
- SEMI S2
- Vishay / IQE gowning
- Class 4-5 fulfilled
Diffusion / etch / CVD
- SEMI S8
- HSE EH40
- Class 6-7 partial
Implant / metrology
- Standard cleanroom
- Class 8-9 unfulfilled
Gowning / corridor
- Background to fab
▼ ISO Class 9 · gown-up
Named projects in this jurisdiction
- Newport Wafer Fab (Vishay Intertechnology, $177 m acquisition from Nexperia completed 6 Mar 2024; 200 mm wafers, 30,000+ wafers/month; SiC/GaN pivot) Vishay Intertechnology 2024
- IQE Cardiff / CSconnected cluster (world's first compound-semiconductor cluster; £37.9 m City Deal; 2,700 jobs; £1 bn cluster value) IQE + CSconnected partners
- ARM HQ Cambridge (design only — NOT fabrication; excluded from fab-construction scope) ARM Holdings
UK semiconductor cluster centres on Newport Wafer Fab (Vishay since March 2024, post-NSI-Act forced divestment) and IQE Cardiff CSconnected. ARM Cambridge is design-only — explicitly excluded from fab-construction scope.
01. Pre-pricing — CSCS + CIS + SEMI S2
CSCS card per worker. CIS 20%/30%. SEMI S2 + S8 equipment-safety competency for cleanroom work.
02. Sponsor Licence + Skilled Worker + NSI Act clearance
Sponsor Licence + Skilled Worker. NSI Act foreign-ownership review for the operator side. HSE EH40 chemical-zone competency.
03. CITB + Vishay/IQE internal-gowning onboarding
CITB Levy. Vishay or IQE operator-specific internal-gowning qualification per cleanroom worker.
04. HMRC + HSE-defensible evidence pack
Minimum pack: bank-traceable remuneration to UK bank, English-language CoS + contract, CIS statements, CITB returns, CSCS card, gowning record per worker.
05. India and Gulf sourcing corridors — the UK semi pathway
Indian semiconductor-trade pool through IIW cleanroom-fitters + BHEL controls. The 8 to 14-week corridor delivers Class-1-eligible candidates against Newport Wafer Fab or IQE Cardiff.