Plans to create a specialised battery recycling plant in Sunderland moved forward on the back of a £1.7m funding deal.
Lithium Salvage intends to build a pioneering refinery in Sunderland which will convert waste lithium-ion battery materials from household appliances into salt which can be sold on for new uses – a process seen to be a critical component of Government’s ambition to improve Ƶ self-sufficiency. Waste generated from lithium-ion household batteries used in items including power tools, mobile phones and vacuum cleaners is already significant and it is likely to grow, yet much of this waste is sent overseas for processing because of a lack of capacity here in the Ƶ.
The batteries contain valuable metals such as lithium, manganese, cobalt and nickel that can be recovered and reused. Lithium Salvage has developed an environmentally sustainable refining process to recover the metals as salts, which can be sold through trading partners.
The company – which plans to be the only end-to-end household lithium-ion battery recycler in the Ƶ by 2026 – has received £1.7m in an investment round led by Northstar Ventures through its Venture Sunderland Fund. The round will support the scale up of the production process and enable the expansion of its Sunderland site.
Additional investment is from Sixth Wave Ventures, NPIF II - Maven Equity Finance, which is managed by Maven as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), supported by the British Business Bank, Gaspara Asset Management, and angel investors from across the Ƶ. To date, the business has been supported by Innovate Ƶ and collaborations with Teesside University, the Centre for Process Innovation, GAP Group, Pennine Energy and 6th Engineering.
Simon Robeson, chairman and founder said: “Today’s funding announcement is a further vote of confidence in our vision, our technical capabilities and our mission to create a scalable and ecologically sound supply chain for recycled Lithium-ion battery materials.”
A North East recycling and haulage business has expanded operations into Scotland on the back of a seven-figure funding package.
Gateshead-based GAP Group North East, which specialises in recycling electronic waste, has used the funding from HSBC Ƶ to build a fridge recycling plant near Perth, Scotland. The new site will enable the business to safely break down and recover ferrous and non-ferrous materials along with difficult-to-recycle rigid plastics, producing raw materials which can be sold to manufacturers to be used again in new products.
The site, which will be powered by 100% green energy generated by onsite wind turbines, will open next year, creating 50 jobs over the next 18 months. The deal comes two years after the company secured a £10m deal with HSBC which it used to buy a new 50,000 sq ft polymer and metal separation plant, to separate the plastic components of electronic goods, a move which also led to the creation of 20 jobs.
Peter Moody, director at GAP Group North East, said: “We have worked with HSBC Ƶ for two years and the team continue to provide support, taking the time to understand our industry and the needs of our business. HSBC Ƶ has helped us to secure the site in Scotland, which has allowed us to expand our recycling plants north of the border.”
A £43m funding package is driving forward a new student accommodation scheme in Newcastle.
Puma Property Finance has announced it has given a the multimillion-pound loan to Vita Group to fund the development of its third student accommodation project in Newcastle. Vita Group is constructing the property on Leazes Park Road, having struck a deal for the site of former Barker and Stonehouse furniture store.
Demolition teams have been busy clearing the site to make way for Vita Student Leazes Park, a 260-bed purpose build student scheme, after the luxury furnishing company moved out, having sold it for more than £5m.
Puma Property Finance has announced it has given a the multimillion-pound loan to Vita Group to fund the development of its third student accommodation project in Newcastle, which sits close to the Newcastle University campus and Northumbria University’s main campus.
New images have been released by the operator, showing how Vita Student Leazes Park will have amenities including a gym, bookable private dining and study rooms, a private landscaped courtyard and basketball court. Every bedroom will also have a high-quality fit-out, and floor to ceiling windows. Developers and operators Vita Student plan to have the new building ready for students to move in ahead of the September 2026 academic year.
A Newcastle hospitality group is seeking new opportunities for growth after selling one of its venues to new owners in a multimillion-pound deal. Mere Court Hotel in Knutsford, Cheshire, has been sold to an unnamed North West hotelier for an undisclosed amount by Newcastle based Ailantus. The four-star country house hotel is set across seven acres of grounds, with 34 rooms and an AA Rosette restaurant.
The deal to sell the luxury venue was overseen by Newcastle-based Mincoffs Solicitors. The law firm has been advising Gosforth-based Ailantus group for more than 25 years, with the firm's other venues including the George Washington Hotel in Washington, the Holiday Inn at Gosforth Park and the Quality Hotel in Boldon, South Tyneside, as well as other hotels across the North of England.
Mincoffs’ corporate partner John Nicholson worked with Ailantus director, Neel Chawla, to deliver the transaction.
