ABSTRACT
From Table 1.1 (p. 7) it is clear that Britain has the fourth largest semiconductor industry in the world after the US and Japanese giants and just behind the European leader, West Germany. While a small amount of British semiconductor output is produced by indigenous companies such as GEC, Plessey, Ferranti, and INMOS, by far the most important contribution has resulted from investment by foreign and especially American companies. The preferred location for foreign semiconductor investment has been the central belt of Scotland. From its beginnings in 1960 with investment by the Microelectronics Division of the Hughes Aircraft Corporation, Scotland has developed to become the principal location for semiconductor production, not only in Britain, but in Western Europe. By 1983, Scotland had become responsible for 79 per cent of British and 21 per cent of European integrated circuit production (Locate in Scotland, 1983, Table I, 12).1
