By Nick Cooper, Community Engagement Manager, Agratas
The South West has a strong heritage of manufacturing, industry and innovation. At Agratas we’re proud that Somerset will host our new battery manufacturing facility, and as our site rapidly starts to take shape, it will soon be our turn to contribute to this legacy for many years to come.
Our facility will be the biggest of its kind in the UK and will play a pivotal role in advancing clean technology and sustainable energy. But importantly for local people and communities, our project will create many positive opportunities and benefits for Somerset and the South West.
We will create thousands of new jobs, provide access to exciting new careers in advanced manufacturing, reskill and upskill people, and contribute to local and regional economies and communities. This reflects our strong commitment to our community-first approach, which is rooted in the values of our parent company, Tata Sons.
Since the start of main construction work in June, significant progress has been made on the Building One steelwork and on new infrastructure across the site. We have a growing workforce on site with many local people joining the Agratas team and many local businesses now in the supply chain, including waste management, groundwork, concrete delivery and catering.
During 2026, the construction team will grow from nearly 500 people to around 3,000, and our delivery partner Sir Robert McAlpine is starting to open contracts for a variety of opportunities on site. Further opportunities will arise as Phase One of the Ring Road and The National Grid Electricity Transmission substation start construction in the new year.
We continue to work closely with the local Chambers of Commerce and UCS College Group to communicate with local businesses on opportunities, and with local people on training and skills. The first short training courses at UCS College Group start early next year, with main courses starting later in 2026. Operational recruitment kicks off in mid-2026, and we will be hiring around hundreds of team members in 2026 and 2027 – including the first of 300 apprenticeships we will offer in the next few years.
Earl Wiggins, VP Manufacturing Operations for Agratas, said: “We are at a defining moment in the construction of the facility. The first steel frames have risen on-site, and the vertical build is now fully underway. We are immensely proud of the progress our teams and partners have made to date, and excited to see the facility taking shape as we move one step closer to delivering sustainable, world-class battery production here in Somerset.”
We will make a significant impact in the South West through our supply chain activities and spending. Construction of Building One will support more than 11,000 jobs directly, indirectly through supplier spending, and through induced impacts from spending by employees. In the peak year of activity, construction will support more than 3,000 of these jobs in the South West, equivalent to around 20% of jobs in Somerset’s construction sector. A single year of peak construction activity for Building One will add around £176 million to the South West’s economy.
Once our facility is fully operational, it is expected to generate more than £700 million in economic value annually for the South West. Our report, ‘Driving Growth in Somerset and the South West’, contains the findings of new research into the site’s potential impact on the Bridgwater community and local economy, in addition to the role it will play on growth and job creation.
You can fine the full report here: Local partners mark construction milestone
All images courtesy of Agratas.
