Committee publication · Correspondence · 13 November 2025
Correspondence from Howard Rupprecht dated 29 September 2025 relating to the 3 September evidence session on Promoting Wales for Inward Investment
From: Welsh Affairs Committee
Summary
Howard Rupprecht, Managing Director of CSconnected Ltd, provides follow-up written evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee's inquiry on promoting Wales for inward investment. He addresses three questions on cluster-working barriers, investment resilience, and strategic opportunities, emphasizing skills shortages in semiconductors, the importance of unified funding mechanisms, and the potential of the 2027 ICSCRM conference to position Wales globally.
Key findings
- Global semiconductor sector faces projected shortage of 300,000 skilled workers by 2030; Wales risks losing FDI without sustained investment in skills development and transfer pathways.
- Fragmented policy geography and place-based funding administered through local cycles risk excluding key partners like Swansea University and slowing cluster coherence; specialist, sector-led bodies like Innovate UK better align funding with strategic priorities.
- Semiconductor fabs create 'sticky' long-term jobs that cannot be easily relocated, avoiding historical branch-plant model; major investments by Vishay (£250m) and KLA ($138m) have anchored South Wales cluster.
- Compound semiconductors' diversified applications across net zero, automotive, defence, AI, and telecoms buffer the region from single-sector volatility.
- ICSCRM 2027 conference in South Wales will attract c. 2,500 international delegates; co-branded UK/Wales offer with unified 'front doors' at Centre 7 (Cardiff) and CS² (Newport) would strengthen Wales's inward investment proposition.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
inward-investmentsemiconductorseconomic-developmentskillsregional-policy
Key actors
Howard Rupprecht, Ruth Jones MP, CSconnected Ltd, Welsh Affairs Committee, Swansea University, Innovate UK, Vishay, KLA
Notable line
“… semiconductor fabs are highly capital- and knowledge-intensive. Once operational, they cannot be easily relocated …”
Key Quotes
“… the global semiconductor sector faces a projected shortage of up to 300,000 skilled workers by 2030. Without sustained investment in skills development and transfer pathways, Wales risks being unable to meet investor demand”
“Specialist, sector-led bodies such as Innovate UK are better placed to align funding with strategic priorities to avoid slowing progress and losing momentum with the opportunity.”
“… semiconductor fabs are highly capital- and knowledge-intensive. Once operational, they cannot be easily relocated, creating long-term "sticky" jobs and avoiding the past "branch-plant" model that Wales experienced in consumer electronics.”
“… consistency. A co-branded UK/Wales o=er, supported by physical "front doors" such as Centre 7 (Cardi=) and CS² (Newport), would present a stronger, customer-centric entry point.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗