Ichor Systems Inc of Tualatin, OR, USA (which designs and manufactures process tools, gas delivery modules and chemical delivery modules for original equipment manufacturers) has had its new 36,600ft2 European head office in Hamilton International Park, Blantyre (near Glasgow), opened by Fergus Ewing MSP, the Scottish Government Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism.
Ichor Systems 1.jpg From left to right – director Mark Firth, managing director Don Nicolson and president & CFO Maurice Carson of Ichor Systems, together with Fergus Ewing MSP (Scottish Government Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism).
In April 2012, Ichor Systems acquired semiconductor firm Semi Scenic (founded in 2003, and based in a 12,000ft2 plant in the Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, since 2005). Ichor’s European operation (which employs 85 people, 36 of them in Scotland) will now be managed from Blantyre.
“With this move from East Kilbride to Blantyre we have increased our production capacity by a factor of five and have set ourselves up for substantial further growth,” says Ichor Systems’ managing director Don Nicolson.
Last year the firm secured a global product licence from Lam Research, enabling it to sell specific Single Chamber Etch (SCE) licensed legacy products directly to wafer manufacturers throughout the world. This has in turn bolstered Ichor’s operations in Scotland.
Ichor has spent£0.5m on refurbishing and enhancing the Blantyre plant, which it holds on a ten-year lease. “I would like to thank the Government for making available £175,000 in Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) towards the costs of refurbishment,” says Nicolson. “I would also like to thank Alan Simpson & his team at TSquared for delivering the high-specification cleanroom facility ahead of schedule.”
