When we talk about the future of clean technology, the conversation often jumps straight to electric vehicles, gigafactories, or headline‑grabbing startups. What we talk about far less are the materials, people, and hard decisions that make those futures possible in the first place.
In this episode of Conversations with Agents of Change, I sat down with Kieren Hall, CEO of Avocet Battery Materials, to explore what it really takes to build advanced manufacturing capability in Europe — and why patient, grounded innovation matters more than hype.
What unfolded was a powerful story about resilience, localisation, and the quiet work of changing an industry from the inside.
Avocet didn’t start as a battery manufacturing business. When Kieren Hall joined the family company in 2012, it was a lean distribution operation — low overheads, flexible hours, and a model that worked.
But something was missing.
Kieren wanted ownership over quality, accountability for performance, and pride in what the company actually made. That desire — combined with the pause and reflection triggered by COVID — became the catalyst for transformation.
Rather than riding out uncertainty, Avocet chose to rebuild itself as a manufacturing‑led, R&D‑driven group, spanning battery materials, precision metals, electric foils, and a dedicated research centre.
Manufacturing Is Hard — And That’s the Point
One of the most striking themes of our conversation was honesty.
Manufacturing advanced battery components is not glamorous. It’s capital‑intensive, slow to scale, and unforgiving of mistakes. Unlike software, you can’t pivot overnight — you’re dealing with chemistry, physics, equipment, and people.
Avocet’s first major leap came through a £1.4m Innovate UK grant via the Advanced Propulsion Centre, which forced the company to confront a hard truth: funding is only the beginning. You still need the expertise, facilities, and courage to deliver.
That meant:
- Building manufacturing capability from scratch
- Developing proprietary IP to replace hazardous chromium‑based processes
- Training teams to make components never before produced outside Asia
Mistakes weren’t just inevitable — they were essential.
Why Precision Materials Matter More Than You Think
Most of us never see precision materials — but they’re everywhere.
From battery current collectors thinner than a human hair, to medical catheter wires, to aerospace superalloy foils, Avocet works at the extreme edges of material science. These materials aren’t off‑the‑shelf; they’re co‑designed with customers, engineered to exact specifications.
This is what modern manufacturing actually looks like:
- Materials tailored for performance, safety, and reliability
- Deep collaboration between engineers, chemists, and customers
- Innovation that starts long before a product reaches the market
Precision isn’t a luxury — it’s the backbone of advanced industry.
The battery conversation often focuses on scale. But as Kieren explained, scale without resilience is fragile.
Europe and the UK learned this the hard way, with high‑profile battery startups collapsing under the weight of cost, yield challenges, and slower‑than‑expected EV adoption. The lesson? One‑size‑fits‑all battery strategies don’t work.
Avocet’s response has been deliberate:
- Focus on high‑performance, specialist applications
- Support localised supply chains
- Develop technologies that reduce environmental impact and dependency on hazardous processes
This is not about competing with China on volume. It’s about building credible, resilient capability where it matters most.
One of my favourite moments in the conversation was when we discussed copper foil — a material most people never think about, yet one that underpins every lithium‑ion battery.
Today, Avocet stands as one of the UK’s largest distributors of battery-grade copper foil, quietly embedded in the supply chains powering electric vehicles, energy storage, and the broader shift toward electrification. Yet distribution is only the beginning. The company is now actively working to bring copper foil manufacturing back to Europe—through joint ventures, strategic partnerships, and alignment with government-backed innovation programmes.
Because in the world of batteries, thinner really does mean better. As copper foil becomes finer, energy density increases—allowing batteries to store more power without increasing size or weight. That translates directly into longer-range electric vehicles, more efficient storage systems, and ultimately, technologies that are more viable at scale.
At the same time, localising production reshapes risk. Shorter supply chains are not just faster—they’re more resilient, more transparent, and less exposed to geopolitical disruption. In a sector where demand is accelerating and dependencies are under scrutiny, proximity becomes a strategic advantage.
And then there’s the environmental truth often left unspoken: not all “green” technologies are created equally. The processes behind them matter. By investing in cleaner, more efficient manufacturing methods, Avocet is addressing the hidden carbon cost embedded within the very materials meant to drive decarbonisation.
It’s easy to focus on the visible—the vehicles, the infrastructure, the end products. But transformation often happens at a much finer scale.
Sometimes, the biggest impact comes from the smallest layers.
Being an Agent of Change (Without the Noise)
When I asked Kieren Hall what being an agent of change means to him, his answer was refreshingly grounded.
It’s not about grand gestures. It’s about doing your part well, consistently. It’s about making incremental improvements that add up — cleaner processes, better materials, more resilient supply chains.
From Avocet’s facility in Holmes Chapel, that mindset is quietly influencing how Europe thinks about batteries, materials, and manufacturing.
And that, to me, is real change.
This conversation reminded me why Agents of Change exists.
Change doesn’t always look like disruption. Sometimes it looks like patience, precision, and persistence. Sometimes it looks like people choosing to build — even when it’s hard.
If you believe business can be a force for good, and that one voice can spark a movement, you’re in the right place.
Listen to the full episode with Kieren Hall
Learn more about Avocet Battery Materials
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