The UK arm of Rigetti Computing, which has built quantum computers in Oxfordshire and delivered a system to the National Quantum Computing Centre.
Rigetti UK Limited is the British subsidiary of Rigetti Computing, a US company that builds superconducting quantum computers. Rigetti describes itself as a pioneer in full-stack quantum-classical computing, meaning it makes the quantum chips, the control hardware and the software that links them to ordinary computers. In the UK it led a consortium that built what was then the UK's first commercial quantum computer, and it later delivered a system to the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) at Harwell.
The first UK project was a 32-qubit machine in a consortium led by Rigetti with Oxford Instruments, Standard Chartered Bank, Phasecraft and the University of Edinburgh's Quantum Software Lab, with funding from Innovate UK. The computer was hosted at Oxford Instruments' Tubney Woods facility, in Oxfordshire, and cooled by an Oxford Instruments dilution refrigerator, a machine that reaches temperatures close to absolute zero. Customers could use it over the cloud. Innovate UK's challenge director Roger McKinlay described the vision of the UK as 'the go-to place for those striving to turn quantum research into quantum business'.
Rigetti then won an Innovate UK competition to deliver a 24-qubit system to the NQCC. In 2026 coverage, the company said it had deployed a 36-qubit system at the NQCC as part of a consortium working on quantum error correction. It also set out a goal of a system with more than 1,000 qubits within three to four years and, longer term, one trillion quantum operations by 2035. Those are company targets. Chief executive Dr Subodh Kulkarni said the UK had become a world leader in quantum computing.
We could not confirm the current size or location of the UK team. The pages we read do not name any UK leadership or give headcount, so this entry rests on the project history and on the announcement of the UK expansion. We also found no first-hand material on culture. The company's tie to UK universities and to firms such as Oxford Instruments suggests a collaborative style of working, but that is our reading rather than a company statement.
If the UK expansion goes ahead, a company like this would employ quantum hardware engineers, cryogenic specialists, control-electronics engineers, software developers and people who work with research and industry partners. Check Rigetti's website for the UK roles on offer now.
Website: www.rigetti.com
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