Agratas

Somerset will be home to Agratas’s new multi-billion-pound electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in the UK, following an announcement by parent company Tata Sons in February 2024. The gigafactory will be on the Gravity Smart Campus, on the site of the former Royal Ordnance Factory, adjacent to Puriton and Woolavington.

The cell manufacturing facility is set to be one of the biggest battery facilities in the country and by the early 2030s will contribute almost half of the projected battery manufacturing capacity required for the UK automotive sector.

Industrialisation at the site has started, with construction to be completed in phases. In summer 2024, Agratas appointed Sir Robert McAlpine as principal delivery partner for Building One, the first of their three buildings. Battery production is set to begin at the end of 2026.

Agratas is working closely with local and regional partners, including Somerset Council, Bridgwater and Taunton College, and the wider Gravity Smart Campus, to deliver bespoke education and training programmes in the region, creating local jobs for local people.

The facility itself will create up to 4,000 new high-skilled green tech jobs in the area, with many thousands more expected to be created in the UK supply chain.

Agratas is taking a community-first approach to the development and held a series of public consultation events in Puriton and Woolavington in May 2024. The company has had regular contact with Puriton Parish Council and their team can be contacted via their community email.

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