The corporation discloses that its cash crunch is not over and that its employees have “voluntarily” chosen to take a wage cut this month.
Britishvolt, which is constructing a battery gigafactory in Northumberland, has disclosed that its employees have accepted a temporary reduction in salary as the firm works to secure its financial future.
It was reported on Monday that the company, a vital piece in the nation’s electric vehicle future, was on the verge of failure due to a lack of finance.
The Financial Times reportedly speculated that administrators could have been appointed later that day.
The primary issue for Britishvolt was the government’s refusal to deliver on a £100 million grant that was agreed with in January.
The £3.8 billion Blyth gigafactory project also received £1.7 billion in private finance.
However, a significant portion of that cash would not be made available until the government aid was paid, prompting Britishvolt to hunt elsewhere for emergency funding.
The Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is reported of the opinion that the corporation has not met certain criteria for the £100 million payment to be released.
Britishvolt announced on Wednesday that it was continuing its efforts to protect its future: “While the declining economic climate is negatively impacting many business investments at present, Britishvolt is continuing to pursue continued constructive negotiations with possible investors.
In the past several days, we have also received promising inquiries from several additional overseas investors.
As a result, we have now acquired the necessary short-term investment, which we feel will allow us to bridge over the next few weeks to a more secure financial position for the future.
“To further minimize our near-term expenses, our committed workforce has voluntarily agreed to a temporary salary reduction for the month of November.”
Britishvolt presently employs little under 300 people but hopes to have 3,000 employees once the plant is fully operational in 2024.
As the clock ticks down to the 2030 ban on the sale of new cars powered by diesel and gasoline engines, a collapse of Britishvolt could force more automakers to look further afield for battery supplies.
Britishvolt plans to produce power cells for 300,000 electric vehicle battery packs per year at its facility, the old coal-fired Blyth Power Station.
