Prospero Ansty Park, 2.3 million sq ft manufacturing hub, is at the centre of the UK’s manufacturing heartland

Discussions around electric vehicles (EVs) is proving a popular topic at the moment, to note a recent Telegraph article that focused on EV battery production, and how it could be the saviour of UK automotive. The UK is lagging behind neighbouring France and Germany in the production of EVs.

It is extremely important for the UK to have EV factories, most importantly to protect our environment, but also to protect our existing automotive jobs and to create thousands of new jobs.

According to the Telegraph: “Demand for EV battery production in the UK is expected to reach 130GWh per year by 2040, equating to roughly eight gigafactories with production capacities of 15 GWh.”

The UK needs to invest in building large scale manufacturing plants for EV batteries. If batteries go out of the UK, automotive production in the UK will follow. This in turn will result in hundreds of thousands of job losses.

Coventry and the wider region have a strong manufacturing and engineering heritage, which can be seen by the number of associated businesses based in the area. The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) in Coventry, aims to work together with industry and academia to develop ways of getting out the lab and into commercial production.

Manse Opus’ development, Prospero Ansty, located east of Coventry, will provide over 2.3 million sq ft of advanced manufacturing, research and office accommodation and would be the ideal location for EV production.

The site is at the centre of the UK’s manufacturing heartland and is ideally placed for advanced manufacturing and industry; there are 30 automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer vehicle brands with headquarters in the area; there are 400,000 people employed in advanced manufacturing in Coventry and Warwickshire; and 10% of all UK automotive jobs are in the area.

The scheme has already attracted multinational business to the park such as Meggitt PLC, a global leader in the aerospace industry. Planning was secured for Meggitt’s new 490,000 sq ft HQ facility in April 2018.