Tata set to confirm Somerset gigafactory

Tata is set to confirm that it will build a battery factory in Somerset. The Indian parent company of Jaguar Land Rover is poised to announce the site over a competing bid in Spain. The site near Bridgwater, known as the Gravity Smart Campus, is owned by Salamanca Group, a privately held, London-based merchant bank specialising in property and infrastructure investment. Gravity has been marketed as a site for green economy advanced manufacturing, such as battery production, which could create thousands of local jobs. It is likely to be the biggest investment in the British automotive industry since Nissan, Toyota and Honda of Japan signed up to come to the UK in the 1980s, and will also be the UK’s first gigafactory after the collapse of Britishvolt’s plans in Northumberland earlier this year. Tata is believed to have asked for more than £500m of financial assistance. The Times (£)The FT (£)The GuardianThe Telegraph (£)