Latest news from around our region...
Britishvolt: Australia’s Recharge among those interested in collapsed battery start-up
Australian battery company recharge is among those looking to bid for Britishvolt out of administration, to pick up where they left off. Britishvolt, initially registered in Coventry, had planned to build a giant factory to make electric car batteries in Blyth, Northumberland, and had taken a long lease on a scale up unit at Hams Hall, North Warwickshire.
https://bmmagazine.co.uk/news/australian-startup-recharge-bid-could-revive-uk-battery-company-britishvolt/
Ansty’s MTC reaches out to redundant engineers at battery start-up
The highly skilled employee base from the collapsed battery manufacturer Britishvolt are being thrown a lifeline by the Manufacturing Technology Centre. The MTC is offering Britishvolt employees the chance to fill more than 50 engineering, manufacturing and supporting roles at its Ansty Park headquarters. An open day was held on January 25 from 11am to 3pm at the MTC’s headquarters at Ansty Park. Any Britishvolt employees interested who missed the event can contact vacancies@the-mtc.org for more information.
https://www.businessinnovationmag.co.uk/manufacturing-technology-centre-offers-job-lifeline-to-redundant-britishvolt-staff/
Berry Global arrives in Leamington with new plastics recycling facility
Commercial property developer Stoford has handed over a new purpose-built production plant in Leamington Spa that will create more than 100 new jobs. Plastics manufacturing company Berry Global has taken receipt of a new 166,859 sq ft unit at the multi million pound Spa Park off Tachbrook Road, close to the A46.
https://www.commercialnewsmedia.com/archives/126410
Auto design and manufacturing consultancy Contechs continues Warwick growth
Fast-growing automotive design and engineering consultancy Contechs has unveiled plans to build new design offices and create more than 125 new jobs in Warwick as its global business booms. Contechs plans to build a new two-storey design office next to Grand Union House – the company’s global headquarters in Budbrooke Road. It is also recruiting more than 125 designers and design engineers, which will bring its headcount to almost 1,000.
https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/westmidlands/news/2071041-automotive-design-and-engineering-consultancy-to-create-125-jobs
Hyperbat wins LOTUS EVIJA battery contract
Battery development and manufacture received a major boost in Coventry & Warwickshire with the announcement that Hyperbat, the hi-tech JV between WAE and Unipart, has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply batteries to Lotus for its new all-electric Evija. The announcement came shortly before WAE, formerly Willams Advanced Engineering, is establishing a battery facility in Oxfordshire to produce specialist off-highway powerpacks with parent company Fortescue.
https://www.manufacturing-supply-chain.com/hyperbats-ev-battery-expertise-wins-lotus-evija-contract/
Remembering fhe Former Chiltern Railways chairman and Vivarail founder
Rail industry executive and businessman Adrian Shooter passed away in December, leaving a legacy of rail innovation and development that has supported growth and connectivity in south Warwickshire since the 1990s. Locally he was key in bringing forward the Warwick Parkway Station with Warwickshire County Council and he was also the founder and chairman of Vivarail, the rolling stock engineering company that went into administration in early December.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/22/adrian-shooter-obituary
Software company Eatron Technologies named fast-growing Tech Start
Battery Management Software developer Eatron Technologies has been named as one of the fastest growing tech start-ups in the UK after recent breakthroughs in Germany and Asia. Eatron Technologies, based at the University of Warwick Science Park’s Warwick Innovation Centre, has developed a battery management system (BMS) which intelligently predicts battery usage and aging profiles to improve software parameters to help the battery last longer.
https://www.businessinnovationmag.co.uk/intelligent-software-firm-eatron-technologies-named-as-one-of-fastest-growing-tech-start-ups-after-global-breakthroughs/
Fund launches for Digital Creative Sector
Warwickshire County Council has established The Warwickshire Digital Creative Co-Investment Fund, an initiative that will provide more than £200,000 in grants for firms in the county. Grants will assist in product development or key activities that lead to the businesses obtaining further private sector investment to accelerate their growth.
https://www.insidermedia.com/news/midlands/fund-launches-for-the-digital-creative-sector
Coventry & Warwickshire tops local authority patent league tables thanks to Jaguar Land Rover
The top three local authorities owe their high ranking due to corporate titans in their backyard. Jaguar Land Rover, BAE Systems and Dyson R&D and design activity push patent activity locally to top of the UK league tables.
https://www.businessinnovationmag.co.uk/bae-systems-dyson-jaguar-propel-wiltshire-coventry-westminster-to-top-of-local-authority-patent-league-tables/
WPDG progresses plans for Southam Business Park
Warwickshire Property & Development Group (WPDG) has been granted planning consent on a 42,000 sq ft industrial scheme at Holywell Business Park which is part of the Kineton Road Industrial Estate in Southam. It will feature nine units between 1,900 sq ft and 15,000 sq ft to suit a range of businesses and could create 100 new jobs.
https://www.warwickshireworld.com/news/people/planning-granted-for-new-business-units-in-southam-which-could-attract-100-jobs-3997999
New development partnership to build 2,000 Homes in Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Council and its property company Warwickshire Property & Development Group (WPDG) have announced a major new joint venture with leading developer Countryside Partnerships, which will see 2,000 new homes created across the county. Develop Warwickshire will help bring sites forward for housing over the next 30 years, with three being taken forward for development within the next 12 months.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/council-announces-new-joint-venture-to-deliver-2000-homes-79543
Holiday period sees HS2 complete world-first in Warwickshire
HS2 Ltd has achieved a world-first after around 450 people from HS2’s construction contractor in the Midlands – Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) – slid a 12,600 tonne bridge a record 165 metres to position it across a motorway in Warwickshire. The site team moved HS2’s Marston Box bridge into place over the M42 during the Christmas period.
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/hs2-completes-world-first-box-bridge-slide-over-the-m42-in-warwickshire-03-01-2023/