Greg Clark to announce £246m battery technology competition

Greg Clark will today launch the first phase of a £246m investment into battery technology, as part of the Government’s industrial strategy.



In a speech in Birmingham the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary will outline the first stage of a competition to establish a centre for battery research.

Mr Clark will say that the £45m “Faraday Challenge” will “quite literally power the automotive and energy revolution where, already, the UK is leading the world”.

The move comes after Theresa May unveiled the Government’s industrial strategy in January.

Ahead of the publication of a white paper later in the year, Mr Clark will say: “For all our citizens to be able to look forward with confidence to a prosperous future, we need to plan to improve our ability to earn that prosperity.

“To enjoy a high and rising standard of living we must plan to be more productive than in the past.”

He will add: “Economists have pointed to what they have called a productivity puzzle in Britain. That we appear to generate less value for our efforts than, say, people in Germany or France. In other words, we have to work longer to get the same rewards.

“It’s not that we want – or need – people to work longer hours. It’s that we need to ensure that we find and seize opportunities to work more productively – as a country, as cities and regions, as businesses and as individuals. If we can do so, we can increase the earning power of our country and our people.”