TVR’s Wales factory deal put £14m of public funds at risk

It seems like TVR can’t catch a break right now. The latest bit of bad news for the famous British sports car brand surrounds its failed factory in Wales, which, it seems, could result in a multi-million Pound bill for taxpayers.

The auditor general for Wales, Adrian Crompton, has written a letter to the Welsh parliament in response to concerns raised over the risk to public funds invested in the TVR factory project. He stated that the Welsh Government spent over £14m in its ultimately failed attempt to attract TVRA (TVR Automotive) manufacturing to Wales. 

The breakdown of that funding included the £4.75m fee for buying the Ebbw Valley factory in South Wales and a further £7.6m spent on the site’s refurbishment. A loan of £2m spread across five years coincided with a £500,000 investment directly from public funds that was made in the hope TVR could start making cars for the first time since 2006. 2,000 cars per year by 2020 was the target, along with the creation of 150 jobs at the factory, however neither of these goals came to fruition. 

Earlier this year, TVR announced that it would no longer lease the factory in Wales, eyeing-up a new base in Hampshire instead. According to the letter from Adrian Crompton, the Welsh government decided in 2023 to sell the factory at a potential loss of £4.85m to the taxpayer. No formal offers for the property have been received since. 

The Welsh government still holds 1.6 percent of shares in TVRA. According to the letter from Crompton, the government is currently weighing up whether to sell back the shares to TVRA or retain them “in the hope that the share price might increase from the current valuation”.

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