EY extends its administration of Britishvolt, partly due to delayed final payment by Recharge Industries

Ernst and Young selected Recharge Industries to take over the Cambois firm, which wanted to build an electric car battery gigafactory, in February.

The Australian startup was also in the early stages of trying to start battery production at a site in Geelong, near Melbourne.

Administration of Britishvolt was due to end in January 2024, but EY wrote to creditors last week asking to extend administration of the firm for another 12 months.

The statement by EY’s joint administrator Joanne Robinson said: “Further time is required to either allow the buyer of the company’s business and the majority of its assets to pay the remaining outstanding deferred consideration, or sell the remaining assets to an alternative purchaser.”

The statement also said EY was still waiting on a final claim from the Redundancy Payments Service before it could make a final payment to creditors.

MP for Wansbeck Ian Lavery, whose constituency includes the proposed factory site, said: “The ongoing situation with Britishvolt is causing concern to many.

"This decision will do little to calm the fears of local people and unblock the obstacles to delivering the thousands of jobs they were promised.

"We are fast approaching a time when the country needs to see concrete action to deliver the gigafactories we need. The site at Cambois is one of the best in Europe and needs to be developed as soon as possible.”

MP for the neighbouring Blyth Valley constituency, Ian Levy, said: "I am disappointed that Recharge have not yet completed the deal to buy the site at Cambois and begin building so I can understand why the administrator has had to extend the administration for another 12 months.

"I have been in regular contact with Northumberland County Council and the government and my main focus is to do all I can to encourage all parties involved to ensure that the site is used for a large scale employment opportunity bringing as many jobs as possible as soon as possible.

"With a deep water port, excellent power supplies, and a willing workforce this remains one of the best industrial employment sites in the UK."