The Geelong Football Club is chasing Recharge Industries, the company that pledged to resurrect UK’s battery-making ambitions through the purchase of Britishvolt, for tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of unpaid corporate membership fees.
The unpaid debt adds to the mounting financial stress on the Australian-born firm that received high praise from the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, just months ago but now owes employees significant wages in the US, UK and Australia.
Guardian Australia is aware of several employees now struggling to pay mortgages and meet rent payments. They are also unable to access unemployment benefits because they are still technically employed.
Money owed to the Geelong Cats has risen to $75,000, according to sources with knowledge of the arrangement, which includes unpaid hospitality packages that typically involve premium match-day seating and food and beverages.
The football club declined to comment.
Recharge had planned to build a lithium-ion battery plant in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne, rebuilding the town’s manufacturing capabilities with modern technology to provide batteries for electric vehicles.
It took on a second major project this year after successfully bidding for collapsed UK battery company Britishvolt, which included plans for a large battery plant in Northumberland to form the backbone of an electrified British automotive industry.
Recharge won the UK bid but failed to make the final payment to administrators. Ernst & Young said in a statement to Guardian Australia it was recovering outstanding amounts owed by the buyer.
While Recharge is trying to still get the UK deal done, Australian employees are owed up to three months’ pay, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Employees in the UK and the US are also owed outstanding wages.
Additionally, Recharge owes money to Geelong’s Deakin University after the organisations formed a partnership to advance various technologies, according to the sources.
Deakin did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Last year, Deakin awarded Recharge $10m, representing one-fifth of a $50m grant the university received from the federal government.
Earlier this year, Recharge’s parent company announced it would give $10m to Deakin for AI research, although it’s unclear if all of the funds were transferred.
Recharge sits under the umbrella of New York-based investment firm Scale Facilitation, headed by Geelong-raised founder David Collard. Most Australian employees working for the groups get paid through a different company called SaniteX Global.
Collard acknowledged receipt of questions from Guardian Australia but did not respond. Questions sent to Scale on Monday and Tuesday went unanswered.
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None of the entities are in administration. This has prevented financially stressed employees accessing a government scheme designed to provide assistance to workers at collapsed companies.
In June, Scale’s Geelong offices were subject to a search warrant as part of an investigation, according to the Australian federal police.
A spokesperson for Scale said at the time the company would fully cooperate with authorities: “The company denies any wrongdoing and is working with legal and other advisers to defend any matters arising from these discussions.”
The police raid and mounting financial problems rub against the exuberance on show when Scale opened its office in the World Trade Centre late last year, attended by Marles and Dutton, who both gave speeches.
Marles, who was born in Geelong, said: “It is going to be a really significant employer in our home town; it’s going to be an enormous contributor to our economy.”
Marles did not respond to questions on Tuesday.
Recharge’s pitch leaned heavily on strategic alliances, making batteries using Australian minerals, including lithium, backed by US technology.
When it won the UK bid, it promoted its business as fitting in neatly with Aukus, the trilateral security pact between the three nations. The batteries were designed to be free from Chinese and Russian materials.
Collard had developed numerous relationships with Geelong businesses and organisations, including setting up bursaries to support students to attend his old school, St Joseph’s College, Geelong.
He also promised to give workers at the future battery factory free membership to the Geelong Cats, and a $1,000 bonus if the club won the premiership, as it did in 2022.