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Building the UK's quantum capability through international partnership

A breakfast briefing on how the UK builds quantum capability through international partnership. For government, industry and investors in the UK quantum sector.

4 November 2026
08:30 - 11:00 GMT
techUK 10 St Bride St, London EC4A 4AD
Panel discussionQuantumFree
Building the UK's quantum capability through international partnership

About this event

Over the last decade, governments around the world have turned their attention to quantum technologies, each building national strategies, funding programmes, and research capability of their own. With nations increasingly looking to claim their stake in the future of quantum, it is becoming clearer that no single nation can build quantum capabilities alone. For the UK, that raises a pressing question: how does the UK find the right international partners while continuing to develop the necessary domestic capability?

The UK has spent over a decade building strength in quantum, backed by more than £1 billion through the National Quantum Technologies Programme and a further multi-billion pound commitment to take the sector into the 2030s. But the supply chains, standards, and talent this capability depends on sit well beyond UK borders.

Join techUK for a breakfast briefing, held during the week of the UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase, bringing together government, industry, and ecosystem voices to discuss what it takes to grow UK quantum capability in an interconnected world.

This event will explore

  1. Where does the UK's quantum capability stand today, and what are the gaps that international partnership needs to close?

  2. What does effective collaboration look like in practice, across research, supply chains, and trade?

  3. How should government and industry work together to grow domestic capability while staying open to the international investment and talent the sector depends on?

  4. What can the UK learn from how other nations are approaching this same balance?

Who should attend

  • Hear from UK and international government, and industry leaders shaping the UK's quantum partnerships

  • Get a clear view of where UK quantum capability stands and what's needed to strengthen it

  • Network over breakfast with the policymakers, companies, and investors driving the UK's quantum sector

  • Connect ahead of the National Quantum Technologies Showcase later that same week


Reach out to the team below if you have any questions: 

Agenda

  • 8:30-9:00

    Arrival and breakfast

    Arrival and breakfast

  • 09:00-09:10

    Welcome from techUK

    Welcome from Sara Duodu, Programme Manager - Quantum and Digital Twins

  • 09:10-09:20

    Keynote

    Johann de Silva, Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (Office for Quantum)

  • 09:20-10:00

    Panel 1

    Exporting quantum: How UK companies compete abroad.

    Hear from UK-grown quantum companies that have expanded into international markets, on how they have accessed capital, customers and talent overseas, and what it takes to compete globally while staying rooted in the UK ecosystem that got them there.

  • 10:00-10:10

    Coffee Break

    Coffee Break

  • 10:10-10:50

    Panel 2

    The case for Britain: What's winning over global quantum firms.

    Hear from international quantum companies that have chosen to establish a presence in the UK, on what drew them here and what the UK needs to keep getting right to remain an attractive base for global quantum investment.

  • 10:50-11:00

    techUK close

    Next steps and opportunities to get involved.

Speakers

Briony Shipman

Briony Shipman

VP Global Government Affairs

Phototonic

Cat Mora

Cat Mora

VP, Research Operations & Government Relations

Phasecraft

Jonny Davidson

Jonny Davidson

Associate Director - Commercial

Riverlane

Ross Grassie

Ross Grassie

Global Strategy & Operations Manager

JIJ Inc

Event contacts

Sara Duodu

Sara Duodu

Programme Manager - Quantum and Digital Twins