SILICON FEN:
CHIPS with EVERYTHING
The Cambridge hi-tech phenomena has produced myriad outstanding companies, scientists and engineers.
A dozen engineers broke away from the once-legendary Acorn computers and started ARM – Advanced Risc Machines - in an 18th century barn in the Cambridgeshire village of Swaffham Bulbeck.
Today it’s a global player of immeasurable clout, a world-beating silicon chip designer. Cambridge University and a diversity of commercial players, big and small, have forged a lucrative relationship, with financial backers such as Herman Hauser’s Amadeus Fund playing a crucial role. John Swinfield spotted ARM in its formative years and was among the first to laud its potential.