Britishvolt’s new administrators at EY-Parthenon are calling any parties interested in acquiring the British battery business and its assets to report interest “as soon as possible.”

The planned gigafactory site in Northumberland could arouse the interest of a number of battery manufacturers, including Slovakia’s InoBat and China’s Envision, as well as carmaker Tata Motors – owner of the British Jaguar Land Rover group. All of which have been rumoured to be looking to expanding into the UK.

The global strategy consulting arm of Ernst & Young was appointed as administrator of Power by Britishvolt Limited (Britishvolt) on 17 January. The insolvency process is a result of insufficient equity investment for both the ongoing research it was undertaking and the development of its sites in the Midlands and the North East of England, EY says in a statement to Kallanish on Tuesday.

Joint administrators Dan Hurd, Jo Robinson, and Alan Hudson will now assess the options for realising the potential value in the business and assets of the company, including intellectual property and R&D assets. They will then implement an orderly closure and winding down of the company’s affairs.

“Our priorities as joint administrators are now to protect the interests for the company’s creditors, explore options for a sale of the business and assets, and to support the impacted employees,” says Hurd. He adds that “the majority” of the 300 employees have been made redundant with immediate effect.

For the administrator, who’s also a partner at EY-Parthenon, it’s “disappointing” that Britishvolt was unable to fulfil its ambitions and secure the equity funding needed to continue. It would have provided a significant opportunity to create employment and support the UK’s energy transition, he adds.

Power by Britishvolt Limited, incorporated in 2019, is the main UK company of the Britishvolt Group. No other entities of the group, including a number of UK entities, are in administration.