£200m battery cell facility set for West Midlands

With a budget exceeding £200m, the plan looks to create upwards of 150 highly skilled, well-paid jobs; unifying the Britishvolt Northumberland Gigaplant with a centrally located scale-up/technology hub.

Britishvolt property director Paul Franklin, says: “This is another important milestone for Britishvolt, UK plc and its world class automotive industry. The UK’s battery ecosystem is a global leader in integrated technology development and industrialisation with the Warwick Manufacturing Group, Faraday Institution, UK Battery Industrialisation Centre and the Advanced Propulsion Centre. I am delighted to see Britishvolt lead the UK’s journey into re-industrialisation with the first full-scale battery Gigaplant. The new R&D and scale-up facilities announced today will help the UK build on its home-grown battery intellectual property and level up the country ready for the energy transition.”

Hams Hall is being developed as a centre of excellence for electrification, with major automakers close by.

The facility will complement the Britishvolt operation at Cambois, Northumberland and support the startup of Gigaplant operations in 2024.

Practical completion of the development is anticipated in July with fit out and equipment installation to be undertaken through to end Q3, 2023.

“This is a hugely exciting emerging sector that Savills has been tracking for number of years. We are delighted to have acquired this new site for Britishvolt at the heart of the UK’s automotive industry, which is a major endorsement for the wider West Midlands industrial market.”