The then Labour government decided that Britain needed a microelectronics industry and in 1978 invested ? 50m ($96m) in a stake in Inmos, a new venture with a design team in Bristol and a chip plant in Newport, South Wales.
Inmos International plc (Trademark INMOS) and two operating subsidiaries, Inmos Limited (UK) and Inmos Corporation (US), was a British semiconductor company co-founded by Iann Barron, Richard Petritz and Paul Schroeder in July 1978. Inmos Limited’s head office and design office was located at Aztec West in Bristol, England.