Battery Industry Veteran Isobel Sheldon Joins Britishvolt To Build Ground Breaking UK Gigafactory
June 13, 2020
London 13.06.20 – Battery manufacturer Britishvolt today announces the appointment of seasoned battery industry professional Isobel Sheldon, as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Head of the Advisory Board, to support building the UK’s first large scale cell gigafactory.
In this new role, Isobel’s familiarity with the global battery landscape will allow her to lead a ‘homegrown’ initiative, and become an integral part of Britishvolt, and the UK achieving market leading status in the production of high performance lithium ion cells.
Having amassed nearly 20 years of Lithium ion battery industry experience, she joins the company from the Government-backed UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) – which aims to transition the country into a world leader in cell design, development and manufacture for vehicle electrification – where she served as Director of Business Development. Prior to this, she held senior leadership positions within global companies, recently serving as Engineering and Technology Director at Johnson Matthey Battery Systems, where she led the technical strategy and execution within the battery systems business.
Isobel Sheldon, Chief Strategy Officer at Britishvolt comments: “As one of the first pioneers to integrate lithium ion batteries in road vehicles, including the first commercially available Plug in Hybrid in the world based on the Toyota Prius hybrid in 2003, I have developed a wealth of knowledge on a wide range of disciplines – from cell technology, chemistries and system integration to how the global industry and supply chain works, as well as the processes involved in manufacturing the cells. I take great pride in having grown over time with this nascent industry, which is now of global strategic significance as the world transitions to electrification and green technologies, having learnt some hard lessons through trial and error to spot the industry’s pitfalls and opportunities.
Isobel Sheldon continues: Previously working as one of executive team behind the UKBIC’s national asset effort, I am delighted to work with Britishvolt to develop a robust, risk based plan that will help revitalise and strengthen the UK’s manufacturing sector, and honour its heritage and excellence in lithium ion batteries. These first few months will be of huge importance, as Britishvolt lays the foundation from which the whole enterprise will be built. As we go forward with the planning phase, our strategy will be to focus on which technology choices to we will carry forward, the location of the facility, and identify the key personnel that will be required to build a roadmap for the future.
Isobel Sheldon concludes: This is not only one of the most exciting green projects currently taking place in the world, for both the automotive and energy sectors, but will be of huge national importance as the UK Government looks to fulfil its green agenda and meet its Road to Zero targets. The lithium ion cell industry is one of the fastest growing and dynamic areas of modern technology at the moment, which Britishvolt’s 30 plus GWh gigafactory is ideally positioned to capitalise on, potentially creating more than 4,000 jobs for the UK economy.”
Lars Carlstrom, Founder and CEO at Britishvolt comments: “Isobel was the perfect fit for this hugely significant role, as she has a rare skillset and the background to understand both the technical and chemical aspects of batteries – whilst being able to implement this into a business paradigm to create value for our shareholders. As the birthplace of lithium ion, the UK was a natural choice for us to build a gigafactory, as it remains internationally renowned for its academic excellence in lithium ion research and development. Leveraging Isobel’s global network, from over twenty years of working in the industry, will help establish Britishvolt and the UK as a world-class competitive battery manufacturing hub for sustainable energy storage, and vehicle electrification moving forward.”
Safe Harbour.
Certain statements in this press release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectation intended to qualify for the ‘safe harbor’ under the U.S. Private Securities Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements.
The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, competition including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, equipment procurement, wage increases, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time contracts or time and material construction contracts, customer concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage international operations, reduced demand, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages related to battery service agreements, the success of the companies in which Britishvolt has made strategic partnerships, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies and unauthorised use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. In addition, please note any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release.
