UK battery firm Britishvolt has reportedly secured funding to avert its collapse, but all does not look well for the much-lauded North East battery behemoth.
The proposed, £4bn Blyth battery megafactory was hailed as a UK tech game changer when the government committed £100m in funding in January.
That funding had helped Britishvolt to secure a further $1.7bn from from private investors including asset investment giant Abrdn and fund manager Tritax, but the company has struggled to find further investors to back the building of its 3,000-job site.
On Monday, the company, which is yet to make any revenue, appeared to be in danger of running out of money when government rejected a £30m advance in its funding.
The BBC is now reporting that the business has secured sufficient cash to stay afloat in the short to medium term, although its sources did not comment on the identity of the new backer or backers.
The project had been heralded by ministers as an example of “levelling up” – the much-vaunted, Boris Johnson-era policy of investing in communities to reduce economic imbalances in the country, with Blyth being one of the “red wall” seats to turn blue in the 2019 general election.
Back in January, then PM Johnson hailed the investment as a “levelling up opportunity”, while the then Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the factory and the jobs it was forecast to create was “exactly what levelling up looks like”.
However, Britishvolt was recently forced to delay the start of production at the plant several times, with the latest company announcement stating it would be delayed again until the middle of 2025. The firm blamed “difficult external economic headwinds including rampant inflation and rising interest rates”, for the delay.
In August, CEO Orral Nadjari stood down saying it was “time to pass the reins.”
Labour MP for Wansback, which borders Blyth and is where the actual factory will be located, told the BBC on Monday that the company would likely enter administration if the government refused to provide the funding early.
He said the chairman said the new business secretary, Grant Shapps, had said the government was “not prepared to do that.”
Britishvolt has already struck memorandums of understanding to make batteries for UK car firms Aston Martin and Lotus ahead of the planned 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK.
