In 2025, Custodian Property Income REIT undertook a comprehensive asset management programme to refurbish an industrial unit of approximately 56,000 sq ft in Plymouth, originally built in the 1980s, investing £2.75 million in capital improvements following the previous tenant’s departure.
The works included replacement of the roof and cladding, installation of modern amenities such as showers and changing rooms, and a range of sustainability-focused upgrades including a 200 kWp solar PV system, additional insulation, electric comfort cooling and heating, and solar-reflective glazing. The project demonstrates Custodian’s commitment to sustainability and to modernising the property for long-term operational efficiency, with the EPC rating improving from E to A and the building repositioned as a high-quality, future-fit industrial asset.
During the 12‑month refurbishment, Custodian successfully pre-let the entire building to Altilium, a UK-based clean technology company focused on the sustainable recovery of critical battery materials, on a new 25‑year lease, with the works delivered to a specification designed by Custodian rather than as a tenant-led fit out. Altilium has occupied the property since September 2025.
In April 2026, Altilium announced that it had been awarded £18.5 million in grant funding through the UK government’s DRIVE35 Scale-Up Fund, delivered by the Department for Business and Trade in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK and Innovate UK. The funding will support the construction of Altilium’s new ACT3 recycling facility at Custodian’s Plymouth property, which will be the UK’s first commercial refinery for the recovery of critical battery materials from end‑of‑life EV batteries.
Construction of the ACT3 facility is expected to commence in summer 2026, with commissioning planned for the end of 2027, after which the plant will have capacity to process approximately 24,000 EV batteries per year. Once operational, ACT3 is expected to produce around 5,200 tpa of nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate, 8,000 tpa of lithium sulphate (equivalent to 1,000 tpa LCE) and 5,400 tpa of graphite, directly offsetting primary extraction and supporting the onshoring of EV battery supply chains in the UK.
Through Custodian’s asset management and site selection expertise, Altilium has been able to secure what is understood to be the only suitable site in Plymouth for developing the UK’s first commercial facility of this kind, with the expansion expected to create around 70 new high‑value jobs in the city. The quality and readiness of the asset have helped enable Altilium to secure the £18.5 million government grant, which is expected to unlock further private finance from new investors and existing shareholders; to date Altilium has secured over £17 million of private investment, including strategic investments from SQM, Marubeni Corporation and Mizuho Bank.
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