Chipboard is ok, but difficult to work: you need sharp gentle tools, because it’s easy to damage and anything beyond holes is difficult to route. I actually prefer MDF for this – it’s much more flexible, although it’s heavier it is stronger. However, it also needs some kind of finish and again you have to be careful working it because the dust isn’t good for you.

I was actually looking at getting a third-party to do the hard work; if you search for CNC wood working companies there are a fair few of them online.

I’ll have to ask around if somebody has CNC machine.

Do you have some examples how these desks look like and how they do cable management?

One of the things which has interested me is the number of companies who are able to take CAD models and feed that through a CNC machine to achieve fine control of not just size but “features” (routing for cables, holes, inlays, etc.). However, that obviously means you need to use something wood or like wood (e.g., MDF) and wouldn’t work with a laminated material.