The new owner of Britishvolt promised that a financing “pathway” to fund the UK electric vehicle (EV) battery business would be secured in a matter of days.
Australian entrepreneur David Collard, whose Recharge Industries bought the Northumberland battery gigafactory developer for £8.57 million in February, acknowledged to the Financial Times that the company had experienced difficulty in raising cash and debt.
He blamed media coverage, which has included widespread reports this week about legal action over unpaid wages, and a tax raid on a linked Australian business that “derailed” financial planning and also left the group in “a precarious position for raising capital and debt”.
Collard said the company is investigating some staff in its Australian arm over “intentional sabotage”, having leaked the fact that Australian police raided the offices of Recharge’s parent Scale Facilitation, along with another Scale business, SaniteX, which was set up in the pandemic and made millions from producing hand sanitiser.
Recharge agreed to buy Britishvolt from administrators EY after it collapsed in January, reviving plans for the firm’s EV battery plant on the site of the former Blyth power station.
However, so far it has paid £6.1 million of the fee, and reports suggest it is yet to pay for the Northumberland site.