let s get down to business. an australian firm recharge industries has come to the rescue and bought the battery maker britishvolt out of administration. the deal is expected to be announced shortly. britishvolt had plans to build a £4 billion gigafactory near the port of blyth in northumberland, but it ran out of money and collapsed last month. its downfall was blamed on a lack of battery experience, unproven technology, and therefore no customers oi’ revenue. the new owner is another start up. recharge industries is owned and run by a new york based investment fund called scale facilitation. its australian chief executive, david collard, told our business editor simonjack why his company was different. what we re bringing, which is different to the prior britishvolt, is we re bringing validated technology. so that process has already started. us defence has also validated the technology, it s actually already supplied to the uk navy through a subcontractor over here.
so i spent a lot of time for starters with the northumberland county council and i just want to say they genuinely just want a gigafactory built and the best thing for their people. announcements are expected very soon. as you ve been hearing, the british prime minister is to hold face to face talks with the european commission president today in a bid to finalise a brexit deal for northern ireland. rishi sunak and ursula von der leyen will meet in the uk and discuss the complex challenges of the northern ireland protocol which was agreed under former prime minister borisjohnson as part of the process of the uk leaving the european union. the uk wants to change the protocol, which sees some goods checked when arriving in northern ireland typically at seaports from the rest of the uk. from brussels, here s our europe editor katya adler, who explains why the european commission president s next steps are significant. she is somebody who manages her
told our business editor simonjack why his company was different. what we re bringing, which is different to the prior britishvolt, is we re bringing validated technology. so that process has already started. us defence has also validated the technology, it s actually already supplied to the uk navy through a subcontractor over here. anyone who s waiting for batteries to come off your production line, which are going to slot into ajlr or a nissan or a bmw, that s not happening anytime soon, is it? no, but the strategy is for any of the manufacturers listening, they can actually start that now, albeit in the interim period. it would be imported from america and that american facility will then be able to supply until the uk facility steps up and comes online. do you understand why people are a bit nervous about this? because you ve got a financial services background, in capital markets and banking. you ve got a small headcount, you re run basically like a private equity group. you ve t
such as an agreement with france over stopping those people smugglers over the channel. and improved relations with the us joe biden has been clear he wants to see a deal over northern ireland work. the eu continues to nervously nibble its nails until it knows that a deal has been sold in the uk and signed. well, for all the politics, this could be a significant moment for business. joining me live now is russ mould, investment director at aj bell. good morning to you. the northern ireland protocol for businesses has been a real headache depending on what sector therein. headache depending on what sector therein. there has been a big process sector therein. there has been a big process of sector therein. there has been a big process of adaptation - a big process of adaptation since the portico came in in january 2021, and firms who supply chains have run between northern ireland and england, scotland and wales, there has been extra checks and extra stresses and it s definitely mo
snacking over lunch. so all this is contributing to a structural reduction in wine consumption in france which unfortunately we do not see as returning back to what it used to be. this hasn t been a certain process, of course, it has been gradual and constant and unfortunately that trend is there to stay. so this is another reason why we need to reduce production potential by pulling up some vines, unfortunately. it pulling up some vines, unfortunately. pulling up some vines, unfortunatel . , ~ pulling up some vines, unfortunatel. , ,, ., unfortunately. it sounds like a hue unfortunately. it sounds like a huge challenge. unfortunately. it sounds like a huge challenge. just - unfortunately. it sounds like a huge challenge. just very - huge challenge. just very briefly, what is the most popular bottle right now coming out of france? bill popular bottle right now coming out of france? out of france? all sorts of bottles and out of france? all sorts of bottles and they out of france