12:19 pm, November 1, 2022
Troubled UK battery making firm Britishvolt might have reached a last-minute deal to avoid collapse, a report has suggested.
The company, which is government-backed and is developing a £3.8bn gigafactory in Northumberland, was deep in eleventh-hour fundraising talks last night (Oct 31).
According to the BBC, Britishvolt secured cash to stay operational for the short term. The backers’ names weren’t given, however.
It was reported yesterday that the company had lost a £100m investment from the government and had no source of revenue.
It was seeking an £200m cash injection to stay afloat, and was thought to be entering administration by the close of play yesterday.
A spokesperson for Britishvolt told The Times the company was ‘aware of market speculation’ and was ‘actively working on several potential scenarios’.
Britishvolt has face a number of challenges including emergency talks to raise the extra millions or sell the company and its founder quitting in the wake of leaked documents that said the battery cell firm was on ‘life support’.
The gigafactory would have create 3,000 highly skilled jobs directly and another 5,000 indirect jobs in the wider supply chain, according to Britishvolt, eventually producing enough lithium-ion batteries for more than 300,000 EVs each year.
The news has lead to many in the industry speculating on the wider implications to the industry.
Daniel Clarke, thematic analyst at GlobalData, said: ‘Simply, the UK government has failed to put its money where its mouth is.
‘After promising a measly £100m to “put the UK at the helm of the global green industrial revolution”, Britishvolt has been left with no choice but to shut up shop.’
He added: ‘Subsequently, due to consecutive government’s unwillingness to invest early in a key industry of the future, the UK will undoubtedly be reliant on battery imports from foreign champions, including market-leading Chinese companies.
‘This year has shown how energy can be weaponised. Britain has now left itself in a geopolitically vulnerable position in a core technology vital in ensuring future energy security.’
Autocar’s editorial director, Jim Holder, said: ‘This news will come as a blow to the prospects of car manufacturing in the UK.
‘As the industry transitions away from traditional petrol and diesel vehicles, it will need five or six facilities of this scale to maintain production at its current levels – we currently have only one of note in the pipeline.
‘The UK car industry supports 180,000 manufacturing jobs and exports worth £77bn, and without the planned gigafactory in Northumberland we are at risk of falling further behind the likes of Asia, EU and US in the race to provide essential infrastructure.’
