ARRIVAL LISTS ON NASDAQ AND SIGNALS FIRST ELECTRIC VEHICLES DUE THIS YEAR

Arrival, the electric vehicle company which has opened its first microfactory at Bicester, and wants to build electric vehicles in microfactories around the world, has listed on the Nasdaq in New York.

It is believed to be the biggest stock market listing for a UK technology company with a valuation of around £9.5 billion at listing.

Denis Sverdlov, Founder and CEO of Arrival said: “Arrival’s unique method of designing and producing vehicles using local microfactories makes it possible to build highly desirable yet affordable electric vehicles – designed for your city and made in your city. Going public will allow us to scale globally, bringing these products to more cities and people. We also understand that this comes with responsibility. Arrival has a remarkable company culture, which attracts great talent and enables us to be truly creative.”

Arrival’s new method of designing and producing zero-emission vehicles is enabled by hardware, software and robotics technologies which it has developed in-house.

Arrival says this allows it to price its vehicles competitively with fossil fuel equivalents and provides customers with a much lower total cost of ownership.

Following the opening of Arrival’s first microfactory in Bicester, the company is planning to open two more in North and South Caroline in the USA.

There has already been strong interest in Arrival’s vehicles, with United Parcel Service (UPS) commiting to buy up to 10,000.

Arrival is also designing a van which is expected to begin public road trials with customers this summer, and a bus which is expected to start trials later this year with First Bus, one of the UK’s largest transport operators.

Demand for industrial space in Oxfordshire reaches record levels

Demand for industrial space in Oxfordshire has reached record levels, resulting in a significant increase of supply, according to property consultancy Bidwells.

Due to intense activity in 2020, Oxford has shown robust growth with 27 per cent take-up compared to 2019, bringing the area 43 per cent ahead of the 10-year trend. As a result of this demand, rents have reached a new high of £15 per sq ft.

The acceleration of online retailing due to the pandemic has resulted in distribution demand taking up most of this activity.

The Oxfordshire market has also had a strong take-up from the science and technology sectors during the later months of 2020.

Supply has increased to meet these record levels, with an 8.9 per cent industrial availability rate available.

Availability of space moved up to 774,600 sq ft, primarily due to the completion of 311,298 sq ft across two units at Didcot Quarter.