Volklec Secures £100M Deal to Kickstart UK Battery Production

A significant step forward for UK electrification is underway as Volklec, a battery manufacturer led by former Jaguar Land Rover and Lotus executives, announces a £100 million partnership with Chinese battery giant Far East Battery (FEB). The deal will establish a new battery production facility in the Midlands, setting the stage for a gigafactory that could employ over 1,000 people by the end of the decade.

“The way we’ve organised this means we can go into production really quickly, scale up, and then leapfrog into a big factory by the end of the decade,” said Popham. “We’ve got all the pieces of the jigsaw in place: the manufacturing agreement, the technical partner. We’re out there talking to prospective customers now, ready to take that next step forward because it’s all about execution. Everything we do over the next two years will serve as a springboard to our own dedicated factory with much higher volumes and 1,000 jobs.”

Unlike previous UK gigafactory projects that have collapsed, including Britishvolt’s failed £3.4 billion plan, Volklec is taking a more measured approach. Rather than rushing into large-scale production, the company will start with more minor, proven manufacturing capabilities before scaling up. Executive director Phil Popham emphasized that the knowledge transfer agreement with FEB makes this project far more secure than other ventures.

“Our project was born out of trying to understand why an independent battery manufacturer hasn’t been successful so far,” he added. “The reason is they’ve tried to do everything upfront. They hadn’t taken the pragmatic steps that we’re taking to build up to that ultimate goal of a large factory. They attempted to develop their own mechanical engineering in the format of the cell, build a huge factory, develop their own supply base, and then look for customers. This meant they needed large agreements early on to fund that huge long-term investment.

“We’re getting into the market quickly with proven technology and a partner, building up slowly, and generating revenue quickly, which gives security and confidence to investors. When we invest in the big factory, it’s a billion-pound project. Nor do we have to recruit 1,000 skilled employees all at once—we can build up gradually. Investors want to see that we have the capability to manufacture at volume before committing to that level of investment.

“The big volume comes towards the end of the decade. The beauty of this pragmatic approach is that it not only gets us to market quickly—we can import from our partner now to provide customers with batteries to test in their engineering programmes and use them to supplement volume as we ramp up—but also allows us to develop the technology ourselves or with FEB as a technological partner if we choose. We have a licence for their current technology in perpetuity, but we can build upon it ourselves and create our own IP, and it doesn’t exclude us from working with other technical partners.”

Production will begin later this year at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) in Coventry. The company will initially focus on lithium-ion energy cells for e-mobility and energy storage applications. By 2027, it will expand into power cells for high-value manufacturing sectors like automotive, aerospace, marine, and industrial machinery. These early phases will serve as the foundation for a full-scale 10GW gigafactory by 2030, aiming to make the UK a competitive player in battery innovation.

While the final site for the £1 billion gigafactory has yet to be confirmed, Coventry is a strong contender. The city has become a hub for battery research and electrification, home to UKBIC, two major universities, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, and established manufacturers like Geely’s London Electric Vehicle Company.

Volklec has assembled a team of battery, automotive, and manufacturing veterans, bringing experience from Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Applied, and Slovakian battery maker InoBat Auto. The company was founded by Imran Khatri, a key player in high-net-worth investments, while Far East Battery, a leader in EV battery production since 2009, will provide the technical expertise to accelerate Volklec’s growth.

“There is an urgent need for new independent manufacturers to secure the battery supply chain in the UK,” said Popham. “We want to become a catalyst for developing the UK-based supply base for this industry. It will be hugely beneficial to sit alongside any other independent battery manufacturers and the battery factories owned by the likes of Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover. Together, as a collective, we can create the scale needed to incentivise the localisation of a UK supply base.

“There is no greater transformation today than the electric revolution in transport and mobility, and the British start-up scene is thriving, from motorsport to heavy-duty off-highway and most things in between. But there is a substantial gap in the supply chain. The UK is particularly strong in the specialist and high-performance sectors, which need a secure supply with quality and reliability. Our mission is to help these innovators thrive.”