Vivergo boss's fears for bioethanol industry

'WITHOUT US THERE IS NO GREEN INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY'

- By TOM KEIGHLEY

THE Government must take action within “hours and days” to prevent the loss of the UK’s bioethanol industry, the boss of Hull’s Vivergo Fuels has said.

Ben Hackett leads the under-threat producer which employs 160 people and supports many more in the supply chain, and says the loss of the industry would “haunt the Government and everybody for decades to come”.

The stark message comes nearly a month after the UK and US signed a trade deal featuring a concession to remove a 19 per cent tariff on US bioethanol imports, which has dealt a serious blow to domestic producers, reports Business Live.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, Mr Hackett said that “with the stroke of a pen” the Government had given away the entire UK bioethanol volume to the US.