Britishvolt was the maker of electric vehicle batteries. They have appointed administrators and made around 300 employees redundant.
The battery startup was looking to set up a “gigafactory”, near Blyth. It had been trying to raise additional capital or sell the business.
Lawyers for the company filed on Tuesday a notice of their intention to appoint administrators at the insolvency court. Around midday, staff were informed that rescue efforts had failed. Administrators EY confirmed that around 300 employees were made redundant.
Britishvolt was backed by mining giant Glencore. It narrowly avoided collapse in November following an injection of funds. To keep the business afloat, staff were asked to accept pay cuts.
The government had provided funding of £100m to the company, which was trying to capitalize on Britain’s ambitions in battery factories.
The cash was subjected to certain milestones. These included the start of work at its planned PS3.8bn North East factory. Britishvolt was denied an early payment because of its repeated failures.
Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister, spoke out about the government’s scheme to support the factory in January 2013 as a way to create “thousands” of jobs in the industrial heartlands of the country and boost electric vehicle production as part of our Green Industrial Revolution.
Britishvolt had at one point presented its prospects for an initial public offering to investors in pitches. Last week, however, it was reported that investors were looking at to bail out the company at a 96pc reduction to its £774m price tag.
On Tuesday, Jo Robinson, Dan Hurd and Alan Hudson were appointed to the EY Parthenon’s restructuring and turnaround strategy team. The administrators stated that the majority of Power By Britishvolt Limited employees were made redundant immediately.
“All those affected are receiving the appropriate support and advice.”
Dan Hurd, EY Parthenon’s joint administrator and partner, stated that Britishvolt offered a significant opportunity for employment and job creation, as well as supporting the development of technology, infrastructure, and other necessary resources to support the UK’s energy transformation.
“It is disappointing that this company was unable to achieve its ambitions and secure equity funding to continue.
“Our priorities as joint administrators now are to protect the company’s interests, explore options to sell the business and assets and support the affected employees.”
A spokesperson for Britishvolt declined to comment.
The assets of the company are being viewed by investors, who may also be interested in rival battery manufacturers. Andy Palmer, former chief executive of Aston Martin and now CEO of Inobat in Slovakia is believed to be interested in the site.
