New Coventry gigafactory set for investment
The City Council are set to agree the plans at a meeting.
Last updated 16th Apr 2024
Coventry City Council’s Cabinet is set to discuss accepting up to £35m funding for the Coventry and Warwick Gigapark investment zone.
One of four sites within the Coventry and Warwick Gigapark investment zone, the West Midlands Gigafactory is the UK’s Centre of Electrification. It is a pioneering centre of excellence for battery technology development and manufacturing which will power Coventry and the UK’s electrified future.
If approved, an initial £23m of funding would deliver highways and infrastructure works to accelerate the development of the site and prepare it for occupation by a battery manufacturer and the associated supply chain.
The development is anticipated to attract up to £2.5bn inward investment and create up to 6,000 new highly skilled jobs directly and thousands more in the wider supply chain in Coventry and the surrounding region.
The programme ties in the Councils wider aims to tackle climate change and ensure that the city is a thriving place for businesses to invest in.
The UK Government invited the West Midlands Combined Authority to prepare a proposal for a West Midlands Investment Zone with a focus on advanced manufacturing. The proposal is being co-developed between government, West Midlands Combined Authority and local authorities including Coventry with the work being done in stages for the zone to be established in spring next year.
Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, said:
Coventry is the historical home of the automotive industry in the UK, where much of the cutting-edge technology that defined the global car industry last century was created here in our city. Now, as we stand at the dawn of a new electric age, we fully intend for Coventry to be very front of the green industrial revolution.
The West Midlands Gigafactory site is the only site in the UK that sits within an investment zone; has planning permission for a large-scale battery manufacturing facility and has confirmed customers interested from a number of global battery manufacturers.
This project has the potential to attract more investors to our city that will bring jobs and prosperity to our residents.