Custom Interconnect
Custom Interconnect is providing advanced semiconductor packaging, assembly and test services that help transform innovative semiconductor technologies into products ready for commercial deployment
Every semiconductor begins as an idea. But turning that idea into a reliable product that can power electric vehicles, AI infrastructure, communications networks or medical devices requires far more than an innovative chip design.
It requires advanced semiconductor packaging.
Packaging is the critical process of connecting a semiconductor device to the outside world, protecting it from harsh environments, managing heat, delivering power and ensuring it performs reliably throughout its lifetime.
As chips become smaller, faster and more powerful, advanced packaging has become one of the fastest-growing and most strategically important parts of the global semiconductor industry.
And it's an area where the UK is building internationally significant capability.
Bridging the gap between innovation and production
Before a semiconductor can be manufactured at scale, it must be packaged, assembled, tested and qualified to operate reliably in demanding real-world environments.
This is where Custom Interconnect plays a vital role.
The company provides outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, supporting customers from early proof-of-concept devices through to full production.
Its capabilities include wafer dicing, die attach, wire bonding, flip-chip assembly, over-moulding, inspection, testing and complete electronics manufacturing, enabling customers to access specialist expertise within the UK rather than relying on overseas supply chains.
For UK innovators, this significantly reduces the barriers between laboratory research and commercial success.
"We are the UK's largest semiconductor packaging facility.
"We have eight wire bonders doing about 1.5 million wire bonds a week. We've got eight surface mount lines. We're currently placing around 1 million components per day.
"There is no single piece of capital equipment in this building that is older than six years - everything is state-of-the-art."
John Boston, Managing Director, Custom Interconnect
1986
Company founded
+220
Employees
1 million
Components placed each day
Scaling for success
Founded in 1986, Custom Interconnect has grown into a company that now employees more than 220 people, operates across 90,000 sq ft of manufacturing space and has increased turnover from approximately £15 million in 2021 to around £45 million today.
Custom Interconnect demonstrates one of the UK's greatest strengths in semiconductors: the ability to combine world-class engineering expertise with advanced manufacturing capability.
As global demand for advanced semiconductors continues to grow, companies like Custom Interconnect are helping strengthen the UK's position across the entire semiconductor value chain, from research and design through to packaging, production and commercial deployment.
"The number of new enquiries we've seen has quadrupled.
"The design of the chips are now in the UK, there are now a couple of fabs in the UK that are fabricating the die, and now you can get [the die] packaged, assembled and tested all in the UK."
John Boston, Managing Director, Custom Interconnect
Investing in capability
Recognising growing global demand for advanced packaging, Custom Interconnect has invested heavily in expanding its UK manufacturing capability.
The company has recently made a capital investment of more than £9 million to create what it describes as the UK's largest semiconductor packaging facility. Located in Hampshire, the expanded site combines advanced semiconductor packaging, cleanroom manufacturing, power electronics production and high-volume electronics assembly within a single integrated campus.
This investment reflects growing recognition that semiconductor packaging is becoming just as strategically important as chip design itself.
Increasingly, advances in computing performance are being driven not only by smaller transistors, but by bringing together multiple semiconductor chips, materials and technologies into a single, highly integrated package through a process known as heterogenous integration.
Custom Interconnect's road to success
Custom Interconnect is founded
Custom Interconnect is established as a design and manufacturing company specialising in thick-film hybrids and microelectronic devices
Expansion into Andover
Custom Interconnect relocates to its current Andover headquarters, providing the space and infrastructure needed to expand its manufacturing capabilities and support future growth.
Broadening manufacturing capability
The company opens a dedicated Box Build facility, enabling it to provide complete end-to-end electronics manufacturing services alongside PCB assembly and microelectronics production.
Supporting the UK's pandemic response
During COVID-19, Custom Interconnect remains operational as a critical manufacturer, supporting the UK Ventilator Challenge and producing semiconductor-based devices used in DNA sequencing technology.
Creating the UK's largest OSAT facility
After almost 18 months of planning and fitting out, Custom Interconnect's new 64,000sq ft BP2 facility comes online.
UK capability ready to scale
Today, Custom Interconnect employs more than 220 people, operates across 90,000sq ft of manufacturing space and has grown annual turnover from £15 million in 2021 to £45 million in 2026.