At the Photon2026 conference in Newcastle, UK leaders and researchers reviewed the sector’s economic growth, regional manufacturing strengths, emerging roadmaps and the challenge of moving lab advances into medical and commercial products.
Regional capabilities matter: Northern Ireland produces around a million lasers per day and aims to be the world’s largest laser manufacturer by 2028.
Speakers stressed converting early-stage optics and photonics research into medical and commercial products to attract talent and deliver societal benefits.
Photon2026, run by the Institute of Physics at Newcastle University, brought together industry leaders, academic researchers and policy advisers to take stock of UK photonics. The meeting focused on where the sector is strong, which regional capabilities matter, and what is needed to turn research advances into marketable technologies.
Economic picture and regional strengths
Panelists highlighted recent growth: photonics generated £18.5bn in revenue in 2024, a 20% rise on 2022, and contributed £8.6bn to the UK economy. The sector employs more than 75,000 people across over 1,200 companies. One concrete example of regional scale is Northern Ireland, described at the conference as producing around a million lasers per day and on course to be the world's largest laser manufacturer by 2028.
A UK national roadmap for photonics is expected soon. Organizers and speakers positioned the roadmap as a vehicle for targeted recommendations to boost manufacturing, strengthen supply chains and scale up emerging technologies.
Future projections and strategic aims
Speakers cited an estimate that by 2035 photonics could be a £50bn industry and deliver roughly 150,000 additional direct jobs. The projection also suggested that more than 60% of the UK economy will directly depend on photonics to remain competitive—an argument used to push for national-level coordination and investment.
Several panelists focused on the gap between early-stage research and products that reach patients or customers. Laura Young (University of Newcastle) urged better use of "translational opportunities" to move optics-based medical-device developments through the full pipeline so benefits reach patients and make the UK a more attractive place for new talent.
Broader applications and international perspective
Photonics was framed as a cross-cutting technology with applications in telecommunications, space, quantum technologies, defence, security, environmental and health monitoring. John Howell, former president of the International Commission for Optics, highlighted that improving access to optics and photonics instrumentation in developing countries can boost environmental and water monitoring and disease detection.
The panel was coordinated by Jolyon De Freitas of the IOP Optical Group alongside the European Optical Society. John Lincoln, chief executive of the UK Photonics Leadership Group (PLG), described the UK's wide geographical spread of photonics capabilities as part of its competitive advantage.
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