All this time our prominence through our semiconductor processing facility had made us an essential part of the UK semiconductor device research field yet – though it was seen inter alia as a national research service facility – we had no guaranteed source of regular funding to run and maintain it and pay its staff.

Towards the end of 1973 Henri Kemhadjian and I decided that we must make a new and determined effort to persuade the Science Research Council to treat the problem seriously. Though it took the SRC four years to respond (it of course set up a “committee”) the end result was positive and we became one of four newly designated centrally financed facilities to serve national needs in various aspects of semiconductor technology; coincidentally to my delight so was the University of Sheffield (in the field of intermetallic semiconductors) to which I moved later in 1974. So at last we were facing a more secure future thanks to the excellence and commitment of the members of staff already named.