The Australian owner of the failed car battery firm Britishvolt is reportedly facing legal action from a former employee over unpaid wages, in a move that could result in the company being wound up.
Recharge Industries, which bought the business and assets of Britishvolt after it collapsed into administration this year, has been served with a statutory demand to pay the outstanding wages, according to the Financial Times.
The company has 21 days to pay the sum owed or the former employee has the right to take further legal action and pursue bankruptcy proceedings against Recharge Industries, the FT reported.
Last week, a number of staff claimed that Recharge Industries, which is run by the Australian entrepreneur David Collard, had not paid staff for months.
Britishvolt, which was founded four years ago, had planned to build a £3.8bn gigafactory in northern England to supply the next generation of UK-built electric vehicles.
The company was backed by £100m in conditional funding from the UK government but fell into administration in January after running out of cash, resulting in the majority of its 300 staff being made redundant.
In February, Recharge Industries bought Britishvolt for £8.6m after finalising a deal with the administrators EY, and made an initial payment of £6.1m.
In August, EY said the final payment was “unpaid and overdue”, making Recharge Industries in “default of the business sale agreement”.
However, Scale Facilitation, the New York-based parent company of Recharge Industries, denied that it had defaulted on the deal.
Last week, EY, which chose Recharge Industries as the most suitable buyer of the company in the administration process, said that it had run a “thorough and competitive sales process” and was “taking steps” to obtain the final payment.
Recharge Industries and Scale Facilitation were contacted for comment.
