The Britishvolt project billed as being the biggest scheme in the North East since the opening of the Nissan factory sold for just £8.6m after hitting huge financial difficulties, new documents have revealed.
The company - which had hoped to raise £4bn to create a gigafactory at Cambois that would have employed 3,000 people - went into administration at the start of this year, with an administrators’ report revealing losses of more than £150m. The company had not managed to generate any revenue and did not have any intellectual property, despite efforts to develop its own battery technology.
Efforts to save the company over a six-month period failed and though hundreds of potential new owners were contacted about taking over Britishvolt, only a handful of serious bids were made. Out of those, Australian firm Recharge Industries made easily the best offer and was able to buy the company for £8.58m.
