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Hydrogen firm GeoPura secured a £56m investment to ramp up its work in clean energy, a deal which will also create hundreds of jobs.

GeoPura – based at the Siemens Energy site in Newcastle with hubs in Nottingham, Matlock and Sheffield – has secured £30m from the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Infrastructure Bank and support from the company’s existing investors to boost production capacity, growing its skilled workforce and increase the rollout of its power generation technology. The funds come exactly a year after the business sealed a £36m deal from global industry leaders to start scaling its business.

This fresh round of investment – led by additional investment from Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and supported by GeoPura’s investors GM Ventures, SWEN Capital Partners, and Siemens Energy Ventures – will see the company increase the manufacture and supply of its Hydrogen Power Units (HPUs) at its Newcastle facility.

Around 400 jobs are expected to be created over the next five years as the funds back GeoPura’s continued growth and investment in green skills. The investment follows a successful year for GeoPura in which it more than doubled its headcount from 30 to 85, also recruiting its first hydrogen apprentices, securing new customers and expanding its reach into Europe.

Andrew Cunningham, CEO of GeoPura, said: “Having experienced the hottest year on record in 2023 with the negative impact of extreme weather events increasing globally every month, our need to combat climate change has never been more urgent. Now, more than ever, we need to act and provide industry with proven and effective solutions to achieve their Net Zero goals as well as allowing them to reduce their liability for destroying air quality with particulates, NOx (nitrogen oxides) and other harmful emissions from traditional generators."

Otterburn Hall Hotel is set to be redeveloped after going under the hammer for £265,000. But it may take some time before its new owners get it shipshape - Otterburn Hall Hotel has lain empty for more than a decade and the building is now a dilapidated shell of its former state. The Grade II listed building – which has 25 bedrooms and 16 acres of woodland, lawns and even a private fishing lake in the Northumberland National Park – was originally built in 1870 for Lord James Douglas, on land gifted to compensate for the death of his ancestor, Lord Douglas, who fought at the Battle of Otterburn.

The building was later used as a military hospital during the Second World War before being bought by the YMCA in 1980 who converted it into a hotel. As a luxury four-star hotel, the building was described as “one of the North East’s most opulent venues” and was a popular wedding venue, but since closing in 2012 it has lain empty and fallen victim to the ravages of time.

The hall was put up for auction at Nottingham Racecourse last Thursday, where a tense bidding war drew bids in the room as well as online and on the phone. From a starting guide price of £150,000 it was eventually sold to a bidder in the room for £265,000 – £34,000 less than the average cost of a º£½ÇÊÓƵ semi-detached house, according to Government figures. The sale revives hopes that the grand building could reopen as a hotel, following a number of failed attempts to sell the building.