Jaguar Land Rover-owner Tata has confirmed plans to build its flagship electric car battery factory in the UK in one of the largest UK industrial real estate transactions.
It is understood that Tata has taken at least all of the Salamanca Group's 7.5 million-square-foot, 616-acre Gravity Smart Campus and Enterprise Zone at Bridgwater in Somerset. Details of the site chosen are yet to be confirmed.
The gigafactory will be one of the largest in Europe and will make batteries for Jaguar Land Rover vehicles including the Range Rover, the Defender and the Jaguar brands.
Tata said the new plant in Somerset will create 4,000 UK jobs and thousands more in the wider supply chain. It will invest £4 billion in the site with the BBC reporting that the government will provide subsidies worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
It is one of the largest investments in the UK automotive sector and dwarfs other investments that have taken place since Japanese car group Nissan set up shop in the 1980s.
Production at the new factory is due to start in 2026. It is understood that Tata also considered a rival site in Spain for its first plant outside of India.
Details of the gigafactory are in short supply but development of the giant state-of-the-art "smart campus" has already begun at Salamanca's site near the M5 motorway at Puriton. At 7.5 million square feet it is understood the factory would be the largest single building by footprint in the UK.
Private real estate investor and developer Salamanca was founded in the UK in 2002. According to the Salamanca Group website, it acquired the Bridgwater site in November 2017 from BAE Systems. The site housed the Royal Ordnance Factory, which was constructed in the 1930s for the manufacture of explosives. It closed in 2008. The government announced it would be one of its investment zones in September of last year.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement: "With the global transition to zero emission vehicles well underway, this will help grow our economy by driving forward our lead in battery technology whilst creating as many as 4,000 jobs, and thousands more in the supply chain."
The decision is a major boost for the UK's aspirations to be a leader in the burgeoning battery manufacturing industry particularly after another proposed manufacturer in the UK, Britishvolt, went into administration earlier this year.
JLL advises Salamanca.