Former Jaguar Land Rover director joins clean tech group
Altilium, the Devon-based clean technology group, has appointed senior automotive industry expert Tony Harper as board advisor – partnerships & Advocacy.
Harper was most recently director of the Faraday Battery Challenge, the UK’s flagship £610m research and innovation programme for the battery technology sector, and has over 38 years’ experience in the automotive industry.
Prior to joining UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in 2018, he was director of engineering research for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).
With a distinguished career in engineering and research, Harper brings extensive expertise and industry contacts to Altilium, which will be pivotal as the company continues to develop and scale its innovative recycling processes for end-of-life EV batteries, contributing to a circular economy and reducing reliance on newly mined materials.
In his new role, Harper will focus on leveraging his industry knowledge and wide ranging network to forge impactful relationships with key stakeholders and strategic partners, supporting Altilium’s mission to become the battery recycling partner of choice for automotive OEMs. His appointment will be instrumental in expanding Altilium’s engagement with both industry partners and government bodies, fostering
new collaborations, influencing policy frameworks and advocating for a more sustainable transport future.
During his time at the Faraday Battery Challenge, Harper was responsible for overseeing all of the programme’s activities and investments to support the development of new battery technologies and innovative UK businesses across the battery supply chain. This included funding, delivery oversight and national policy direction for the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), the UK’s £220m investment
in an open-access national battery manufacturing development facility, as well as successful delivery of the Faraday Innovation Programme, investing £130m of public funding in scaling high tech battery businesses and securing £800m of direct private investment.
This resulted in Faraday supported start-ups raising £1.7bn in venture capital investment creating a cohort of companies worth at least £3.2bn.
Harper said: “This is an exciting time to be joining Altilium. Their mission to build a circular economy for EV batteries, securing resilience, prosperity and growth as we drive toward a more sustainable future, is absolutely critical. It is vital that we scale and secure this capability in the UK. Atilium have the right technology, the right team and I look forward to doing whatever I can to help them deliver.”
Altilium COO, Dr Christian Marston, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tony to Altilium. His wealth of experience in automotive research and engineering will be instrumental in driving our mission forward. During his time at the Faraday Battery Challenge Tony tirelessly championed the development of a world leading battery technology sector here in the UK and his insights and leadership will be critical to the successful scale-up of Altilium’s operations and the development of a sustainable domestic supply chain for battery materials.”
The appointment comes at a time of significant growth for Altilium. During the past 18 months the company has secured investment from Marubeni Corporation and SQM Lithium Ventures, and continued to scale-up its UK operations with the commissioning of its ACT2 EV battery recycling facility in Devon. The 18,000 sq ft facility is the only plant in the UK capable of producing large volumes of precursor cathode active materials (P-CAM) and cathode active materials (CAM) from recycled EV battery waste. The company is also working with UK OEMs to qualify its battery materials and recently delivered its second shipment of recycled CAM to UKBIC for battery cell
production.
