Ministers have rebuffed pleas for financial support from a London-listed electric battery manufacturer which faces collapse within days.
Sky News has learnt that efforts by AMTE Power to hold substantive discussions with Whitehall about emergency funding have stalled.
City sources said that AMTE’s chief executive, Alan Hollis, had been left frustrated by a lack of engagement from government officials as the company’s financial position had become increasingly precarious.
Chief executive Alan Hollis has been left frustrated by the government
AMTE Power has drawn up plans to build a gigafactory in Dundee, but has seen its valuation slump amid financing challenges.
One person close to the company contrasted the estimated £500m government support package being provided to Tata Motors’ Jaguar Land Rover unit with its “apparent indifference” to AMTE.
The AIM-listed business warned on Thursday that its position had become “ever more critical”.
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FRP Advisory is understood to have been placed on standby to act as administrators.
An AMTE spokesperson declined to comment on its efforts to engage government officials.
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How lithium batteries are made
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “This government is committed to ensuring the future of the car industry in the UK and we are working hard to unlock private investment through the automotive transformation fund.
“Our funding has helped secure vital investment, including Tata’s recent announcement that they will be investing over £4bn to build a new gigafactory in the UK, the £1bn electric vehicle hub in Sunderland in partnership between Nissan and Envision, Ford’s investment of £380m in the production of electric drive units at Halewood, and £60m investment by Johnson Matthey in Hertfordshire to develop hydrogen technologies”.