By any measure, the UK’s transition to electrified transport is accelerating. Gigafactory announcements, electric vehicle (EV) targets and investment in battery research dominate headlines. Yet, as Jonty Deeley-Williamson, head of learning and development at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), argues, there is a critical enabler that remains consistently underplayed: skills
Speaking to an audience of engineers and industry leaders at Advanced Engineering, Deeley-Williamson was direct about the challenge. “People keep telling me how great their technology is, or how electrification will magically solve everything,” he said. “But when I ask about skills, I get blank looks. These factories don’t run themselves.”
UKBIC’S ROLE IN THE BATTERY ECOSYSTEM
UKBIC occupies a unique position in the UK and global battery landscape. Based in Coventry, it is the world’s only open-access battery manufacturing facility covering the full process chain from electrode manufacture through to module and pack assembly. Crucially, it does not retain intellectual property. Instead, it exists to de-risk manufacturing scale-up and develop capability. “We’re not here to own IP,” Deeley-Williamson explained. “What we care about is making sure people can actually run these processes at scale.”
That focus is timely. Around 65,000 new jobs are expected to be required across the UK battery supply chain as electrification accelerates. Without a coordinated approach to skills development, there is a real risk that capital investment in factories and R&D will outpace the availability of a trained workforce.
A WIDENING SKILLS GAP
The UK currently has only two confirmed large-scale battery manufacturing projects under construction: AESC in the North East and Agratas in the Midlands. To meet projected automotive demand alone, the UK would need to roughly double its planned gigafactory capacity. That figure excludes additional demand from heavy goods vehicles, off-highway machinery, rail, marine and stationary energy storage.
“These numbers are still educated guesses,” Deeley-Williamson noted. “But even the conservative estimates show we are several gigafactories short – and every one of those needs hundreds, if not thousands, of skilled operators and technicians.”
Compounding the issue is the reality that electrification is not a simple workforce transition from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to batteries. For the foreseeable future, both technologies will coexist. That limits the pool of experienced workers who can be directly redeployed.
“We’re not just flipping a switch,” he said. “You can’t assume the existing ICE workforce will simply move across. Many of the roles are different, and we need new entrants as well as reskilled staff.”
MANUFACTURING AT ALL LEVELS
According to Deely-Williamon, persistent misconception is that battery manufacturing is dominated by PhD-level scientists. In reality, around 80–90% of roles in a gigafactory are Level 2 or Level 3 technical and vocational positions. “This is normal manufacturing, just cleaner,” he said. “Production operators, maintenance technicians, quality technicians – these are the backbone of the industry.”
Each gigawatt-hour of battery manufacturing capacity typically supports around 180 direct manufacturing jobs, with at least 120 linked to automotive supply. As capacity scales, job creation is broadly linear. This has significant implications for education policy. While the UK has strong university-based battery research through organisations such as the Faraday Institution, vocational education and further education colleges have historically been under-supported. “We’ve invested heavily in universities, but we’ve left vocational education behind,” Deeley-Williamson said. “If we lose people at Level 2 and Level 3, the whole system falls over.”
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS: A HIDDEN ADVANTAGE
Despite the scale of the challenge, Deeley-Williamson is optimistic. Many of the core skills required for battery manufacturing already exist in adjacent industries. “If you walk through a battery plant, you’ll be surprised how much of the equipment comes from elsewhere,” he said. “Mixers came from concrete and food processing. Cell assembly looks a lot like electronics manufacturing. Maintenance and machine minding are universal skills.”
This creates an opportunity to reskill workers from industries in decline, rather than starting from scratch. Process control, statistical analysis, equipment maintenance and quality assurance are all transferable competencies.
UKBIC has built a structured skills ecosystem spanning Levels 2 to 5, complementing higher-level academic provision. Its training portfolio ranges from introductory courses explaining battery manufacturing fundamentals to deep-dive, hands-on experience on a live production line.
“We’re currently the only place in the world where you can get line-side experience in a real battery manufacturing environment,” Deeley-Williamson said. “Most commercial plants won’t let you anywhere near their lines.”
UKBIC has also led the development of the UK’s first Battery Manufacturing Technician apprenticeship standard, now adopted internationally in countries including Germany, France and Singapore. Additional short courses are being developed to support automotive workers, service leavers and those transitioning from ICE manufacturing.
Batteries account for around 62% of the value and weight of an electric vehicle. If the UK fails to build them domestically, it risks higher import costs, exposure to trade barriers and the loss of a strategically important manufacturing sector.
“We’re already seeing what happens when we don’t act,” Deeley-Williamson warned, pointing to the dominance of Asian manufacturers, who currently account for around 94% of global battery production. “This isn’t about losing a niche industry – it’s about losing the heart of future vehicle manufacturing.”