Hopes that a potential buyer could be found for stricken electric vehicle manufacturer Volta Trucks are being harboured by both the administrator and a Hull firm critical to its production.
This week saw the firm announce it was filing for bankruptcy in Sweden, with the main trading entity registered in the UK. Paneltex, a long-standing specialist manufacturer, had won the contract to build the cargo bodies for the pioneering vehicle, the Volta Zero, taking on a factory at North Cave to deliver the major contract.
It was set to revolutionise the commercial market, offering a 16-tonne fully electric model, with thousands of orders mooted and fleet pilots underway.
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Andrea Jakes, Mark Firmin and Jo Hewitt of professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP have now been appointed as joint administrators to Volta Trucks Ltd, the US subsidiary of Swedish parent company Volta Trucks AB. It collapsed after losing its battery supplier, which saw investor confidence evaporate.
Ms Jakes, managing director of Alvarez & Marsal, said: “As administrators, we will continue to consider the options for the company as we search for a potential buyer to secure the future of the business.”
This is the resolution hoped for in Hull, where a maximum of 47 jobs could depend on the outcome. It is less than 10 per cent of the 600-plus workforce at the £74 million operation, but there were hopes to scale that figure up to 240 as orders increased.
Chris Berridge, managing director of the company, had told of the blow felt when the news emerged early on Tuesday, immediately pausing production. Paneltex had only recently started series production of Volta bodies for assembly in Austria at the Dianthus Business Park site.
Speaking after a hectic couple of days understanding the implications, Mr Berridge, who had underlined a strong order book across the rest of the business, said: “Staff at North Cave all remain in place and that will certainly be the case until we understand whether there is any future for the Volta truck product. Although administrators have been appointed by Volta, we feel we need to wait until they have assessed the situation and decided how to move forward.
“The Volta electric truck is a great product and we remain hopeful that someone may consider acquiring it and continuing with the project. That of course could potentially create a new customer for the Paneltex North Cave project we have developed for Volta.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
