North East business leaders and politicians have expressed hopes that a deal can be salvaged to keep the Britishvolt project alive, after it emerged its prospective new owner has defaulted on payments to acquire the firm.
Recharge Industries, the Australian company which was supposedly meant to buy failed battery start-up Britishvolt, has missed the deadline to pay for the business, according to the latest filing by joint administrators at EY. The document shows how the final instalment of a nearly £8.6m payment, which was due on April 5, was still outstanding saying: “This amount remains outstanding and as a result, the joint administrators have had to spend a greater amount of time than anticipated in taking steps to preserve and recover this amount.”
The development raises fresh concern over plans for the project near Blyth, in Northumberland, which aims to build a ‘gigafactory’ that would create batteries either for electric vehicles or power storage.
Read more: Britishvolt buyer is yet to make final payment, administrators say
The multibillion-pound scheme was first unveiled in late 2020, pledging to create 8,000 direct and indirect jobs, but it has been fraught with issues, including the resignation of its first chair when a previous tax fraud conviction came to light, swiftly followed by construction grinding to a halt when the company ran out of money. The Government initially pledged backing to the tune of £100m - vital to unlocking £1.7bn from private investors - but the funding was never given because of the company’s inability to meet certain conditions.
When Britishvolt finally went bust with debts of more than £150m in January, it emerged that it had not managed to generate any revenue and did not have any intellectual property. The latest EY document cast further doubts that Recharge Industries is also now struggling to make it a reality, compounded in June when the offices of its parent firm Scale Facilitation, were raided by police as part of an investigation into potential tax fraud.
Despite the latest development, regional leaders remain optimistic that Recharge Industries can get a deal over the line, kickstarting a project with the potential to create 3,000 jobs at what they describe as the perfect location for such a gigafactory.
Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery said: “The reports in recent days are extremely concerning and will do nothing to give confidence to the community who are crying out for this investment and have been let down so many times before. I have spoken to David Collard on a number of occasions in the past few days and he has assured me that despite this development the project will continue. This is the best industrial site in the 海角视频, if not Europe, for development of this type, I remain confident that a scheme will go ahead but we need to see progress soon.”
Most Read
A spokesperson for the North East England Chamber of Commerce said: “We’re aware of the media reporting of an ongoing issue between Recharge and the administrator. The Cambois site remains a prime location for industrial development on the scale of a gigafactory so we hope any outstanding issues can be resolved quickly and amicably, enabling this transformative investment to finally go ahead.”
Paul Butler, CEO of the North East Automotive Alliance, highlighted how the Britishvolt site at Cambois is a prime location for battery manufacturing. He added: “I hope that Recharge Industries are able to make their final instalment and complete the deal. Whilst their primary focus is not automotive having two significant battery manufacturers in the North East would be attractive to battery supply chain companies looking to locate in the 海角视频. It is clear the 海角视频 needs to secure more battery production capacity as we are lagging behind our European counterparts. Battery supply is critical to the future of the 海角视频’s automotive sector.”
Meanwhile, a Northumberland County Council spokesman said: “We are continuing to work closely with representatives of Recharge on a range of financial and legal points associated with this significant transaction and investment into our county. The future prosperity of this site is vitally important to us as a council, as well as the local area, the wider county and the north east region.”