Britishvolt appoints administrators as battery startup goes bust

Battery startup Britishvolt has appointed administrators to handle its insolvency after it failed to find a buyer or secure additional funding.

The insolvency is a big blow to the UK’s electric vehicle battery manufacturing industry and brings an end to months of uncertainty over the startup’s future.

The majority of Britishvolt staff – around 300 – have been made redundant with immediate effect.

Professional services firm EY, which has been appointed joint administrator, said in a statement that Britishvolt became insolvent “due to insufficient equity investment” for its research, the development of its £3.8bn battery cell ‘gigafactory’ in Northumberland and sites in the Midlands.

“Britishvolt provided a significant opportunity to create jobs and employment, as well as support the development of technology and infrastructure needed to help with the UK’s energy transition,” said Dan Hurd, joint administrator and partner at EY-Parthenon. “It is disappointing that the company has been unable to fulfil its ambitions and secure the equity funding needed to continue.”

EY is looking at options to sell the assets of the company, including intellectual property and R&D assets, to claw back some of the money for investors.

Britishvolt had been facing the threat of administration and seeking new funding since October when the government rejected an advance of £30m of committed funds.

This came after the firm’s founder Orral Nadjari was replaced as Britishvolt’s CEO and the delaying of battery production by six months.

Employees at Britishvolt even agreed to an interim pay cut in November in an attempt to stop an administration.