Amte Power has expanded its Thurso team with the appointment of new general manager Simon Brooks.
Mr Brooks is now heading up the Caithness factory as the company ups production to meet rising demand from the electric vehicle and energy storage markets.
The new GM has overseen manufacturing processes for original equipment manufacturers across the automotive and mining sectors and brings more than 30 years of operations, production and project management experience.
His latest role builds on his experience in vehicle battery manufacturing at Nissan and leadership positions at Union Electric Foundry and Komatsu Mining Group.
Amte Power’s Thurso facility currently employs 35 people and is a base for the firm’s cell technology development and small-scale manufacturing.
It will play a key role in Amte Power’s scale-up plans, with the company using the facility to hone manufacturing processes for its battery cells and start supplies as it moves towards commercial production volumes.
Cash injection from Arena Investors
Last October Amte Power confirmed plans for commercial production of cells at its Thurso headquarters this year after it raised £5 million in bond funding from an institutional asset manager.
The firm signed a non-binding, heads of terms deal for proposed convertible bond facility with Arena Investors.
It allows the company to secure production contracts for a range of cells to be produced at Thurso and the UK Battery Industrialisation centre (UKBIC), a £130m research centre in Coventry.
The proposed facility follows the signing of a contract with UKBIC, announced on October 6, to produce 60,000 of the company’s six-minute re-chargeable “ultra-high power” cells per year for the next two years.
Amte Power is also planning its first megafactory in Dundee.
Chief executive Alan Hollis said the company was “proud” of its Scottish roots.
The Thurso plant is “central to our growth plans”, he said, adding: “Our people there continue to play a key role in our success, shaping our technology and readying us for the next stage of expansion.”
Amte Power was founded in 2013 and is a developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion battery cells.
Thurso has second largest cell manufacturing capacity in UK
In March 2021 the company listed on the alternative investment market of the London Stock Exchange.
It is focused on launching a series of next generation battery cells based on new chemistries and cell structures designed to solve problems in power delivery, energy performance and safety.
