Vivergo, the UK’s leading bioethanol plant based in Saltend, will close, leading to the loss of around 160 direct jobs and over 4,000 in the supply chain.
The plant, which was struggling, will close following Keir Starmer’s trade deal with the US giving United States bioethanol producers tariff-free access to 1.4 billion litres in the UK, the exact size of the UK market.
Vivergo had been working closely with local MP Graham Stuart, former Minister of State for Energy and Minister for Trade, as well as the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Transport.
Vivergo had been struggling but, with a pipeline of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and maritime fuel, as well as increasing bioethanol in the UK’s E10 unleaded petrol, the plant had a bright future and had received great support from owners ABF (Associated British Foods).
The Department for Business and Trade had been working hard with Vivergo but the trade deal meant there simply hadn’t been a market to support the plant’s future.
Vivergo in Saltend and Ensus in Redcar are the only bio-ethanol plants in the UK, providing the green fuel which is mixed with petrol to lower emissions. Vivergo also produces animal feed and CO2, providing thousands of UK farms – many of them in East Yorkshire - with a market for £150million of wheat that doesn’t make the grade for bread or pasta.
Vivergo employs around 160 people directly at Saltend and supports around 4,000 more jobs in the supply chain.
Graham has been active in supporting the plant. He has asked questions of the Department for Business and Trade, lobbied Trade minister Sarah Jones, met workers in Parliament and joined apprentices in presenting a petition to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.
He visited the plant to meet Managing Director Ben Hackett and is in regular communication with the plant. He met Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood to press the case for the government changing regulations around bioethanol to increase the market.
The Government has conceded that it has given away Vivergo’s existing market in the UK as part of the UK-US trade deal. Graham is now pursuing a meeting with the Department for Transport to push for an expansion of the domestic market by transitioning from E10 fuel (which must contain 5-10% bioethanol) to E15 (which must contain 10-15% bioethanol) – a move which Vivergo says would increase the UK market by up to 700 million litres.
Graham said, “This is devastating news for everyone who works at Vivergo and in its supply chain.
“Vivergo was let down by Keir Starmer’s deal with Donald Trump, offering the entirety of the British bioethanol industry to the Americans.
“That means the loss of jobs, the loss of expertise and the loss of a foundational industry of the future.
“I applaud all Vivergo’s incredible workers who I’ve been working with over the last few months and the officials who had worked to save the plant, even if their hands were tied by the Prime Minister’s personal deal with the US.
“When Labour negotiates, Britain loses.”
