The future of Britishvolt – a £300m, UK based, battery-making factory planned for Tyneside was thrown into doubt last Friday when Australian police and tax authorities raided the offices of Scale Facilitation founded by entrepreneur David Collard who also is the company’s CEO.
Recharge Industries, a subsidiary of Scale Facilitation, bought Britishvolt in January 2023 when it went into administration. The purchase by Recharge Industries revived the hope of a largescale UK-based battery factory to supply the UK vehicle production industry.
The police raided the offices in North Geelong, a western suburb of Melbourne, on behalf of the Australian tax office who were investigating another Collard company – Sanite X. IT and communications equipment were seized and removed.
Staff at Scale Facilitation had not been paid for a number of weeks, and this raised serious concerns about cashflow. In a statement to the news media, a spokesperson for Scale Facilitation denied any wrongdoing. “We have and will continue to fully cooperate with the Australian Taxation Office and now the AFP. We deny any wrongdoing and will continue working with our legal and other advisers to defend any matters arising from these discussions.”
