British manufacturing has suffered a disaster after two UK-based companies announced 3,000 jobs were at risk.
Swedish start-up Volta Trucks filed for bankruptcy, putting 600 UK jobs at risk. And on the same day Rolls Royce – not the same as Rolls Royce Motor Cars – announced it was cutting 2,500 jobs which would affect the UK and other countries.
The biggest shock of the two announcements came from the private Swedish firm as it was made just six months after production of its 16-tonne electric began in Austria.
However, they ran into financial difficulties after its battery supplier, Proterra, also filed for bankruptcy in the USA in August.
As a result of Proterra’s problems, Volta was placed under far greater financial pressure as they looked for a solution.
The loss of the supplier meant they couldn’t build as many trucks and raise less capital, forcing it to take the “difficult” decision on Tuesday morning.
In a statement they said: “Volta Trucks accomplished a great deal from a standing start in 2019, revolutionising commercial vehicle operations for a sustainable future.
“However, like all scale-ups in the EV manufacturing sector, Volta Trucks has faced challenges along the way.
“The recent news that our battery supplier (Proterra) has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, has had a significant impact on our manufacturing plans, reducing the volume of vehicles that we had forecast to produce.
“The uncertainty with our battery supplier also negatively affected our ability to raise sufficient capital in an already challenging capital-raising environment for electric vehicle players.”
Ahead of its collapse on Tuesday, Volta had said: “Piloting in five countries in Europe, we received fantastic feedback, which led to a strong pipeline of highly reputed customers who wanted to introduce our Volta Zero Trucks into their fleets.
“We would like to sincerely thank the Volta Trucks team and are incredibly proud of their pioneering work to deliver such an innovative zero-emission commercial vehicle.”
Meanwhile, Rolls Royce’s chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic said: “We are building a Rolls-Royce that is fit for the future. Our business is full of committed, talented people and I believe these changes will enable them to build greater capability in areas that are key to our long-term success.
“This is another step on our multi-year transformation journey to build a high-performing, competitive, resilient and growing Rolls-Royce.”
Following Volta’s bankruptcy, a Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “While this is a commercial decision for the company, we understand that this will be a concerning time for workers at Volta Trucks.
“We are championing automotive innovation by investing £1.4bn in partnership with industry, and are unlocking strategic investments like the recent Tata announcement to build a £4 billion new gigafactory, helping to create jobs and grow our economy.”
