No mega battery factory with 3,000 workers in England, no indirect jobs with 5,000 workers, no cell factory on Québec soil… the young British company Britishvolt, for which former Prime Minister Philippe Couillard worked, is bankrupt.
• Also read: The Britishvolt project at Bécancour would reach $10 billion
“It is disappointing that the company has not been able to meet its ambitions and secure the equity funding needed to continue,” Dan Hurd, co-director and partner at EY-Parthenon, told the journal, which is now expanding taking care of the case.
“Our priorities now as joint administrators are to protect the interests of the company’s creditors, explore options to sell the business and assets and provide support to affected employees,” he added.
Philippe Couillard has served as Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Power by Britishvolt Limited since February 2021, according to the Quebec Business Register.
Search for public funds
In April 2021, Le Journal reported that former Prime Minister Philippe Couillard had signed up as a lobbyist to get public funds for a battery cell factory here.
In an interview with the Journal afterwards, the former Quebec No. 1 said it was “extremely gratifying to see a foreigner see us as an ideal breeding ground”.
However, it was more difficult than expected for Britishvolt, which, according to Les Echos, was barely able to raise a tenth of the sum required for its English mega-factory.
The Journal has not been able to reach Philippe Couillard to find out if he has other projects in the battery sector close to the heart of the Legault government.