The key themes facing photonics industry and research in the UK were discussed at the recent Photon2026 conference in Newcastle, run by the Institute of Physics, as Michael Banks reports

High gains The UK photonics industry generated £18.5bn in revenue in 2024 – up 20% over 2022. (Courtesy: iStock/Terraxplorer)"> High gains The UK photonics industry generated £18.5bn in revenue in 2024 – up 20% over 2022. (Courtesy: iStock/Terraxplorer)

“The UK is really good at photonics and it should be something that the UK celebrates.” That was the verdict of John Lincoln , chief executive of the national network organization UK Photonics Leadership Group (PLG) at a recent meeting of the photonics community in Newcastle. He was speaking in a panel debate at the Photon2026 conference run by the Institute of Physics (IOP) at Newcastle University on 1–4 September.…