However, amid continued financial difficulties, a deal to fund the business was not finalised, and in April 2024, the Blyth site was sold for redevelopment as a data centre campus.
[11] Initially the company was reported to be planning a battery factory near Bridgend in South Wales or near Coventry,[3][12] but, in December 2020, Blyth was confirmed as the location for the Britishvolt manufacturing plant.
[14] In July 2021 plans for a £2.6bn gigafactory employing 3,000 people were approved, with the new Britishvolt plant to be located on former coalyards adjacent to the former power station in Cambois, near Blyth.
[19] Anglo-Swiss mining giant Glencore invested in Britishvolt in August 2021,[18] and was part of a £50M funding round with NG Bailey and Norway's Carbon Transition ASA.
[20] In late 2021 Britishvolt was reported to be considering a stock market listing in either London or New York to help raise the £2 billion needed for the factory's construction.
[31][32] In September 2022, a further Guardian report said Britishvolt, facing problems that were making fundraising difficult, had called in consultancy EY to help.
[6] The Financial Times noted the business was spending £3M a month on salaries after hiring almost 300 people while still years from generating revenue;[33] "profligate spending" included provision of expensive electric company cars, a hospitality suite at the Goodwood Festival of Speed motorsport event, "prolific" private jet use,[34] video yoga lessons from a fitness instructor, and top-of-the-range curved 4K computer monitors.
[35] Published accounts covering the 14 months to January 2021 showed a loss of £8.8M, warning of "material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern", and government supporters rated Britishvolt's chances of survival at 50-50.
[33] On 2 November 2022, the UK government refused to advance £30M of its grant funding to Britishvolt (release of funds was contingent on reaching construction milestones), putting the company at risk of going into administration (Britishvolt held two meetings with the UK government, chaired by former business secretaries Jacob Rees-Mogg and Grant Shapps at the Department for Business and Trade, in October and November 2022).
The executive team was also set to work unpaid while other staff agreed voluntary pay cuts, receiving 25% or 50% of their salaries in November.
[42][44] Ahead of a Britishvolt staff meeting on 16 January 2023, the BBC reported that "a British consortium" might make a last minute bid, adding, if no bidder secured 75% of shareholder support, the company might be heading for administration.
[49] As a shareholder, the Ashtead plant hire firm later revealed it took a £35M hit from Britishvolt's collapse;[51] NG Bailey reportedly lost "more than £2M",[52] later confirmed as £6.8M.
To be eligible for the government's pledged £100M grant for the project, any preferred bidder would be required to build a battery manufacturing plant and have at least £150M of working capital.
[57] EY administrators, originally expected to sell the business for under £10M by the end of January 2023,[58] were also in talks with a potential private equity investor Greybull Capital.
[59] On 4 February 2023, EY was reported to be working with Recharge Industries as its preferred bidder,[60] ahead of bids from Greybull, a group of current shareholders, and Saudi British Bank.
[63] The FT reported that the takeover related to Britishvolt's battery technology and that it had until the end of March 2023 to close a rumoured £10M deal to buy the Blyth site and pay a creditor (Katch Fund Solutions)[69] whose debt is secured against the land.
[70] On 17 March 2023, Northumberland County Council extended a buy-back clause on the Blyth site, giving Britishvolt's new owners more time to build the gigafactory.
[73] In June 2023, Collard told the Australian Financial Review that the British plant was being prioritised ahead of Recharge's Geelong factory, aiming to start UK battery manufacture as early as 2024.
[75] However, Recharge UK had yet to agree a deal with the county council regarding its buy-back rights, which was delaying finalisation of the project's financing.
[74] In late June 2023, the offices of Scale Facilitation and SaniteX, owned by Collard, were raided by Australian police in connection with alleged tax fraud.
[79] In August 2023, it was reported that Recharge Industries had yet to pay the final instalment of an £8.6m payment, due in April 2023, to complete its purchase of Britishvolt.
He was named in New York lawsuits from staff demanding back pay, and had received an eviction notice from a luxury apartment, and an American Express bill for $746,000.
[93] In February 2024, administrators EY said there had been "discussions with a number of additional parties who ... may be interested in acquiring the proposed gigafactory site in Northumberland."