Agenda item

Report of the Director of Finance and Resources

The Coventry Shareholder Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources, that set out the performance of UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) during the 2024/25 financial year.

A corresponding private report detailing confidential financial matters was also submitted for consideration (Minute 14 below refers).

The UKBIC is a state of the art 20,000m² battery manufacturing, research and development facility on Rowley Road, which was formally opened in July 2021.  UKBIC is an open access facility designed to allow UK manufacturers to trial and industrialise the next generation of batteries for electric vehicles and other applications, which are essential to the UK’s net zero ambitions.

Between November 2017 and October 2019, the Council approved the acceptance of £114m grant funding from Innovate UK’s Faraday Battery Challenge, towards the total cost of £132m to develop the UKBIC facility.  The remaining £18m was provided in the form of a loan from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with repayments secured through an arrangement put in place with UKBIC Limited.  UKBIC Limited was established in order to operate the facility.  Coventry City Council owns 100% of the shares in UKBIC Limited and has two Directors who sit on the Board, including the Chair.  The remaining board members are made up of UKBIC’s Managing Director and Finance Director, a representative from Government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre and independent battery / automotive industry experts.  In addition, a Battery Innovation Programme Director attends the Board as an observer.

The Battery Innovation Programme reviews and approves the UKBIC Limited business plan on a regular basis to ensure that the business is sustainable and that it is meeting the technology needs of the UK automotive industry, and is currently providing core operational funding to UKBIC Limited.  The Company’s mission to support the growth of the battery industry in the UK remains unchanged.  The financial year 2024/25, as is often the case with developing industries, saw both positive and negative developments which have affected the company.

The period saw a rapid take-up in battery-powered electric vehicles, together with the further development of newer battery technologies and chemistries, all of which were reflected in customers using UKBIC facilities.  Against that, there were a number of high-profile company failures in the UK that affected the business.  As a result, UKBIC has widened its key objectives to accommodate a changing battery industry and landscape to incorporate both international opportunities and other potential facility utilisation without changing its core mission of supporting the growth of the UK battery industry.

Further details of the company’s performance were included within the corresponding private report.

The Committee noted that the report had also been considered by the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee at its meeting held on 30^th October 2025 and had supported the recommendations (their minute 31/25 refers).

RESOLVED that, subject to the consideration of the additional confidential information contained in the corresponding private report (Minute 14 below refers), the Coventry Shareholder Committee:

1.  Note comments from the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee.

2.  Approve the UKBIC Annual Performance Report 2024/25.