Leading Light Plessey Could Contribute To a British Electronics Revolution

Key parts for light bulbs, high visibility safety clothing, laptops and sensor controls are starting to pour from the company’s Plymouth factory as Plessey rolls outs its breakthrough technology for the international LED lighting market, currently worth some £20 billion.

Small, buccaneering Plessey reckons its competitive and reliable silicon-based solution is the one to slay its multinational rivals.

With £40 million of private investment, several million pounds of enterprise funding and a wealth of Cambridge University scientific expertise under its belt, it has set its sights on becoming a mass volume producer in the UK, creating hundreds of skilled engineering jobs.

Plessey’s technology is founded on Cambridge know-how it bought and is now developing.

This is centred on a solution that ‘grows’ or builds up layers of the basic silicon material required to make the tiny parts, for example filaments in a light bulb, that then convert electrical energy into light power.