An historic signing ceremony took place today (Monday, September 11) to ratify the development of a compound semiconductor industry cluster in South-East Wales.

The signing followed an agreement in May by the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) Regional Cabinet to contribute £37.9 million from the CCR City Deal’s Wider Investment Fund towards the establishment of a major, cutting edge facility, as an anchor in the region for high end production of compound semiconductors.

The aim being to support the development of a compound Semiconductor Industrial cluster in the region, with the potential to:

• lever £375m of private sector investment,
• create up to 2,000 high skilled jobs,
• return the investment for use on other regional schemes, and
• create hundreds more jobs in the wider supply chain cluster

It is the first such investment since the £1.2 billion CCR City Deal programme was formally signed by the leaders of the ten local authorities in the region on March 1.

The facility at Newport will be owned by the 10 Councils in the Regional Cabinet under the special purpose vehicle ‘CSC Foundry Limited’ / ‘LDC Ffowndri’ and the space leased to IQE plc for compound semiconductor manufacturing and applications development, helping the establishment of the world’s first Compound Semiconductor Cluster, CS connected, in the region.

The project is not a grant or a loan – it is a commercial investment with ownership of the foundry shared between the 10 Councils. The proposal seeks to return the original investment plus interest over the life of the project.

The project was formally confirmed in a signing ceremony today at IQE’s headquarters in Cardiff by Secretary of State for Wales, The Right Hon. Alun Cairns MP, Welsh Economy and Infrastructure Secretary Ken Skates, CSC Foundry directors Councillors Bob Greenland (Monmouthshire) and Andrew Barry (Merthyr), and IQE chief executive Dr. Drew Nelson.

The CCR City Deal seeks to position the region as the global leader in compound semiconductor-enabled applications, which was initiated by a £12 million investment from the Welsh Government.

In 2016, Innovate UK – the UK Government’s innovation agency – announced a £50million investment to establish a new Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult in South-East Wales. This new Catapult will build on existing investment by Cardiff University, IQE, and Welsh Government.

Councillor Peter Fox, Leader of Monmouthshire County Council, and Deputy Chair of the CCR City Deal Regional Cabinet, said:

The objective of this commitment is to create a complete compound semiconductor eco-system in South Wales to take advantage of the growing prominence of compound semiconductor technologies.

The opportunity this investment creates, to help the establishment of the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster in South East Wales, should not be underestimated

It has the potential to place our region at the heart of this cutting edge sector and will require the development and integration of a compound semiconductor supply chain in South Wales, with the economic and social benefits that will bring.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

Compound semiconductors are at the heart of many devices we use today, from smart phones to tablets and satellite communication systems. It is an area of UK strength and today’s confirmation of the development of a cluster of excellence in Wales reinforces our own strong position in the growth of this important and growing technology.

Of course, government does not create innovation, but it can be a catalyst to getting the scientists and engineers, the designers and the entrepreneurs together to make it happen.

This collaboration is important because innovation is a shared endeavour and I look forward to seeing the cluster take shape and create a lasting engineering and manufacturing legacy in Wales.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:

It is hugely encouraging that Welsh Government’s initial £12m investment in developing the cluster back in 2015 has been the catalyst for today’s announcement that IQE plans to expand into the City Deal’s new facilities. Not only is it extremely exciting news for the Welsh economy, securing additional jobs and investment, but it further cements Wales as a world leader in this state of the art technology.

With the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster located here in South East Wales, we are punching well above our weight in developing technology which not only plays an increasingly vital role in the way we live our lives today but will drive innovation which will shape the world we live in tomorrow.

Dr Drew Nelson, Chief Executive of IQE plc said:

Compound semiconductors are rapidly defining 21 century technologies and Wales is uniquely positioned to be centre stage of this global, high-tech industry sector.

This dedicated compound semiconductor facility between Cardiff and Newport will act as a key component of the burgeoning cluster that is already cementing Wales reputation for for technology leadership.

The initiative is a shining example of what can be achieved through collaboration. The Welsh and UK governments, along with the ten councils that form the Cardiff Capital Region, have worked closely with academic institutes and industry to build an innovation infrastructure that will support and nurture the region as a true global player in new and emerging technologies.

The facility will become the base for a number of compound semiconductor related activities, including IQE, where we expect to rapidly expand our production capacity to meet increasing demand for our technology.

Notes to editors:

• The Compound Semiconductor Cluster builds on Wales’ recognised company strengths to create critical mass and commercial value in the supply chain by bringing together next-generation semiconductor materials and end-user applications such as 5G smart phones, the Internet of Things, tele-health and autonomous vehicles
• Compound semiconductors are more complex than silicon technology and offer lower power consumption, higher operating speeds and temperatures, light-emitting and detecting properties

• Four translational infrastructure pillars are already operational and bridge the so-called “valley of death”, pulling through early stage academic research into commercial activity. They include:

  1. Institute for Compound Semiconductor Technology, at Cardiff University, part-funded by Welsh Government.
  2. Compound Semiconductor Centre – a joint venture between IQE plc and Cardiff University
  3. Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult, funded by InnovateUK
  4. Future Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Hub at Cardiff University, funded by EPSRC
  5. The Cardiff City Deal is a £1.2 billion deal to unlock significant economic growth across the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR)
  6. The specific aims of the CCR City Deal can be summarised to: improve productivity; tackle worklessness; build on foundations of innovation; invest in physical and digital infrastructure; provide support for business; and ensure that any economic benefits are felt across the region

• The Shadow Regional Cabinet comprising the leaders of the 10 local authorities in south east Wales was set up in 2016 to provide the leadership, vision and strategic direction for the Cardiff Capital Region; help shape and manage the City Deal programme and structure; integrate and align the City Deal agenda with the Metro; prioritise projects which demonstrate the potential to achieve real economic improvements across the region; establish a secure platform for development encouraging alignment of relevant functions and activities and strategic application of funds as part of a fully integrated City Region approach; engage with wider stakeholders to encourage and support a collaborative approach to make the Cardiff Capital Region a success.

• The ten local authorities are: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, The Vale of Glamorgan.

• The City Deal includes funding of £734m for the South Wales Metro, of which over £500 million is provided by the Welsh Government and £125m from the UK Government.

• The CCR Deal was formally signed on March 1, 2017, and the Regional Cabinet came out of shadow, and the programme entered a transition phase

• The Cardiff Capital Region Transition Plan will detail key activity to be undertaken, including establishing a Regional Office to drive the delivery of the Regional Cabinet’s work programme in anticipation of receiving proposals. This includes the creation of a bespoke impact assessment model for those proposals.

• The transition phase will also see the creation and development of three advisory bodies to the Regional Cabinet – the CCR Economic Growth Partnership, a region-wide business representation organisation, and an Employment and Skills Board, and one delivery body, the Regional Transport Authority.

• The ten partnering Councils approved the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal (CCRCD) Wider Investment Fund (WIF) totalling £495 million, consisting of £375 million grant from HM Treasury, passported via Welsh Government over the next 20 years. The remaining £120 million will be contributed by the ten partnering councils based on their respective population base and is currently modelled as being 100% capital in nature.

I’ve just come out of COBR where we’ve again been discussing the catastrophe that’s engulfed our friends in the British Virgin Islands, in Anguilla and Turks and Caicos, and of course across the Caribbean, the victims of Hurricane Irma.

It was a mercy that Hurricane Jose proved less destructive than had been feared, but now we’re stepping up our aid effort. Three planes going in today, 500 British troops in the region, 125 UK soldiers on British Virgin Islands alone. As I speak, 53 UK police officers in the air, on their way to help sort things out, get these wonderful places back on their feet.

If you want to donate to help British people over there in the Overseas Territories, then we will match your contributions to the Red Cross, pound for pound.

On a screen in the Foreign Office Crisis Centre, Hurricanes Irma and Jose are being tracked across the Caribbean – mile by devastating mile.

Britain would help any human being caught up in these forces of nature. But we have a special responsibility today because Hurricane Irma inflicted its most powerful blows upon British Overseas Territories, inhabited by 75,000 British citizens.

First was Anguilla, where Irma knocked out the power and cast the island into darkness, then came the British Virgin Islands – which have borne the brunt of the storm – followed by the Turks and Caicos.

I watched the 2 hurricanes swirl across the screen in the Crisis Centre where dedicated staff from the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development have been working around the clock since Wednesday.

They’ve been dispatching emergency supplies, mobilising ships and planes and trying to second guess nature by anticipating exactly what help would be needed, where and when.

Their task is complicated by the fact that they are dealing with not 1 storm but 2. Following closely behind Irma is Hurricane Jose – the first time that 2 category 4 or above hurricanes have struck in such quick succession since records began in 1851. To all intents and purposes, this is an unprecedented situation.

The Crisis Centre got through to Tim Foy, the Governor of Anguilla, who briefed me in calm and measured tones. The power station on his island had survived, he said, but 70 or 80% of the transmission poles had been toppled, depriving everyone of electricity.

I thought of the 15,000 Brits living in darkness on Anguilla, with destroyed homes and schools all around them, having endured one hurricane and now in the path of another.

But the Governor was full of praise for the immediate help provided by the men and women on RFA Mounts Bay. The government dispatched this 16,000-ton naval supply ship to the Caribbean in July in preparation for the hurricane season. She carries her own floating dock, a Wildcat helicopter and a special disaster relief team.

And the Governor described how these skilled personnel had managed to restore power at Anguilla’s hospital, rebuild the emergency operations centre and – perhaps most valuable of all – clear the runway and make the island’s airport serviceable.

RFA Mounts Bay has now been repositioned to do everything possible to help the British Virgin Islands. But we must be humble in the face of the power of nature. Whatever relief we are able to provide will not be enough for many who have lost so much – and their ordeal is not over.

A crisis like this brings out the best in Britain’s public servants. We can all take pride in people like Tim Foy and the other Governors of the stricken islands, the staff of the Foreign Office Crisis Centre, and the crew of RFA Mounts Bay. All are striving tirelessly to help those in need.

And so they must because the people of Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos are British. Our obligation to them does not depend on the happenstance of geography: we will help just as surely as if the hurricane had struck Inverness or Dover or St Ives.

It is precisely because of this overriding sense of obligation that the government has ordered the flagship of the Royal Navy, HMS Ocean, to head the Caribbean. Our biggest warship in service – carrying eight helicopters including 2 giant Chinooks – has left its NATO tasking in the Mediterranean and begun steaming westwards with all dispatch. HMS Ocean will cross the Atlantic and reach the Caribbean in about 10 days.

There is, of course, a desperate need for aid in the meantime. On Friday a giant C-17 transport aircraft from the RAF took off for the Caribbean, laden with enough emergency shelters for almost 1,000 people. In total, almost 20 tonnes of aid has already been sent by air, including rations, water purification kits and emergency lighting.

Expertise matters just as much as materiel, so 250 Royal Marines have been deployed in the region, including military engineers and medics.

They will reinforce the 40 personnel of the humanitarian and disaster relief team on board RFA Mounts Bay, whose excellent work has made such a difference in Anguilla.

In a situation where roads are blocked and communications disrupted, helicopters are essential assets. So a second C-17 left the UK on Friday carrying 2 Puma transport helicopters. They will join the Wildcat already deployed by RFA Mounts Bay.

We can be reassured that a great deal of aid has either arrived or is en route. But heartbreaking damage has been inflicted and no-one should assume that everything will go smoothly in the crucial days that lie ahead.

We are working alongside our friends, including France and the Netherlands, whose Caribbean territories have also suffered terribly, and the United States.

And the government has promised to match what I know will be the generous donations of the British public pound for pound.

We must now look ahead to where Irma will strike next. On Sunday the hurricane is expected to make landfall in Florida, where hundreds of thousands of Britons either live or go on holiday. Our Consul General in Miami is making every preparation.

In the coming days, our fellow Britons will be caught in the pathway of these forces of nature. We will not relent in our efforts to give them every possible help.

Tobias Ellwood, the Minister asked by David Cameron in 2015, to deliver the Memorial, is delighted to confirm that this work has been selected by an independent Panel, chaired by Baroness Lynda Chalker, following invited proposals by a number of artists, and based on a public consultation carried out in 2016.

The selection process included sharing two short-listed proposals with families who responded to the consultation saying that they had lost loved ones in terrorist incidents overseas, and were willing to be consulted further on the Memorial.

The Memorial is expected to be installed at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, by the end of this year, with a dedication event likely to follow in the Spring of 2018.

Mr Ellwood said:

My hope is that this memorial will become a peaceful and contemplative site, offering solace and comfort to those affected by the terrible terrorist events that we have seen taking place overseas, and impacting on British Citizens.

I am grateful to Baroness Lynda Chalker and the Panel that has taken time to select a thoughtful design, from an internationally renowned and respected artist. Alison Wilding and Adam Kershaw’s design is simple, sensitive and beautiful.

This memorial shows our recognition, as a nation, of the loss that has been suffered by British families over a number of years, and will stand for those events that, sadly, are likely in future years.

The Chairman of the Panel that selected the Memorial, Baroness Lynda Chalker, a former Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, said:

This has been a challenging commission to best reflect the many views we received from those who responded to the Government’s consultation in 2016. It was clear then that David Cameron’s proposal for a Memorial had public support, with a wide range of views of what the Memorial should be like.

I am grateful to those artists that responded to the brief with sensitivity and creativity. I am delighted that we have chosen Alison and Adam’s work because it represents calm and stillness, echoed in the title of the proposal. We have shown this design to a small number of the families who feel a connection to the Memorial, and they have appreciated its openness and accessibility, and the generous seating, making it easier for visitors to approach.

Whilst there is no dominating symbolism, the families that we shared the design with appreciated imagery that represented the global reach of terrorism, but also the continuation of life.

Alison Wilding and Adam Kershaw said:

We are thrilled to have been chosen to make this memorial and have been encouraged by the positive feedback from the families and others who took part in the selection process.

Sue Dilley, whose brother, Gordon Cousland, was killed in a bomb attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport in 2011 said:

I would like to thank the Panel for the supportive and sensitive manner in which they consulted with the families. I found it extremely poignant to meet others affected by acts of terrorism, taking place over the last 30 years. The innovative design of ‘Still Life’ will allow all its visitors to reflect on such tragic events and give families a memorial to remember their loved ones.

Sheelagh and Barry Alexander, whose son Nick was killed in the terrorist attack at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris in 2015 said:

We appreciate all the work and consideration that is being put in to complete this memorial, which will be very important to so many. We are very grateful.

Belinda Green, whose husband Stephen was killed in an attack on an Algerian gas plant in 2013, said:

Still Water represents the calm after a storm. For me it reflects how the trauma of the event for any person who suffers loss will eventually lessen but not be forgotten. I like the openness of this design very much, the ability to look out to the surroundings in any direction, and importantly that its openness will not exclude anyone.

The proposed memorial is sited a short distance within the copse so that it might gradually reveal itself, like coming across a hidden pool within a woodland glade.

The pathways leading to the memorial will be made of natural materials and softened by the growth of the woodland floor so that this feeling of discovery is enhanced.

The memorial itself is composed of a concrete ellipse set just below ground level so that its perimeter becomes blurred and softened as nature takes its course.

Colour is added to the top layer of cement, which is hand-trowelled to give a ruffled effect, as if the dark waters of the hidden pool are being stirred by a gentle breeze. The concrete ellipse is crisscrossed with brass meridian lines that form a strong armature for the base of the work and also echo the lines encircling the globe.

The surface of the ellipse contains seven pale cast concrete shapes, which shift between figuration and landscape and reference a mountainous terrain.

Three elements: water, land and air, come together in the work which is titled ‘Still Water’.

If sitting by a woodland pool offers a kind of balm, the artist hopes that so might this memorial. The seating comprises a two-tiered quarter section which follows the curve of the concrete ellipse, with slats of heat-treated ash providing the base and back between the armrests. It is turned away from the main pathway to allow for quiet contemplation.

The Memorial will clearly display the attribution: Still Water, 2017 Alison Wilding Adam Kershaw

Additionally, text will be engraved onto the external curve of the seating:

“IN REMEMBRANCE OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY TERRORISM OVERSEAS”

The then Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced in July 2015 that the Government would create a National Memorial to British Victims of Terrorism Overseas.

Tobias Ellwood MP, then Minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, launched a consultation to help the Government to understand what would be important to people in a National Memorial.

The responses to the consultation provided a rich insight into what matters to people. Fundamentally, it showed that the vast majority of respondents were wholly supportive of the proposal to create this important Memorial.

In July 2016, the Government published a document summarising the responses, and capturing the detail of what people think.

The Government hopes to create a Memorial that provides meaning for the optimum number of those who feel a connection with it, with particular emphasis on those most directly affected.

Overall, the consultation has shown strong support from the public. There was a clear sense that the Memorial should be a place of remembrance for the families, and for the public and society as a whole to pay their respects to the victims of terrorism overseas. Respondents felt that it was right and fitting to create this Memorial.

Biographical details of Artists

Alison Wilding makes abstract sculpture. She is known for the wide range of both materials and processes she employs, as well as her capacity to work at the extremes of scale: from the hand held object to all but monumental sculpture.

Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1948, Wilding graduated from the RCA in 1973. She came to prominence in the 1980s as one of a group of sculptors including Richard Deacon and Antony Gormley. Wilding’s first major solo exhibition was at the Serpentine Gallery in 1985. Since then she has shown extensively throughout the UK and abroad, and has been acquired into major public collections in the UK. Public commissioned works include Migrant, 2004 for Snape Maltings, Shimmy, 2013 at 10 New Burlington St, London and Herm 2017- a drinking fountain for a new garden in Rathbone Place. Wilding was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1988 and 1992 and elected to the Royal Academy in 1999. Awards include a Henry Moore Fellowship at the British School at Rome (1998), Joanna Drew Travel Bursary (2007), Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award (2008) and Bryan Robertson Award (2012). Wilding lives and works in London and has been represented by Karsten Schubert since 1987.

Adam Kershaw is a sculptor/maker of objects and furniture, he has spent the years since leaving the Royal College of Art collaborating with, and working for clients to find solutions to the challenges of designing and making both complex and beautiful pieces. Whilst always attuned to his clients’ and collaborators’ ambitions, his own vision about the pursuit of quality and feel of workmanship informs the handling of the work. His specialist knowledge in the use of materials combined with years of experience, passion and exploration is evident in everything he produces.

Of their collaboration on this memorial Alison Wilding said:

Adam Kershaw was my assistant in the 1990s and over the years he has continued to make some of my work and solve intractable problems for me. We have often talked of collaborating on a project and are both delighted to be working on this memorial together.

Notes to Editors

Baroness Lynda Chalker of Wallasey has been a member of the Lower and Upper Houses of the UK Parliament for over forty years. Between 1986 and 1997 she was Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, holding responsibility for Africa and the Commonwealth and for Overseas Development. Lynda was made a Life Peer in 1992.

The other members of the Panel are:

• Aaron Cezar, Director, Delfina Foundation
• Caroline Douglas, Director, Contemporary Art Society
• Penny Johnson CBE, Director, Government Art Collection
• Keith Lane, previously medical planner with the Royal Air Force and project manager with Cruse Bereavement Care
• Sandy Nairne CBE FSA, writer and curator, former Director of the National Portrait Gallery