The engineering giant contributed to a fund raising round for Britishvolt in September 2021 which raised £50m.

Other investors included mining giant Glencore and Norwegian based Carbon Transition ASA.

NG Bailey declined to comment on how much it had invested in the firm.

But one insider told the Enquirer: “There were some ashen faces in the office when this news hit on Tuesday and some people will have a lot of questions to answer.”

An NG Bailey spokesperson said:  “At NG Bailey we are committed to playing our part in the decarbonisation of the UK economy, so it is disappointing that Britishvolt has gone into administration.

“As a business, we continue to have a strong pipeline and high-quality order book and are looking forward to working with our partners and customers to continue driving forward the UK’s transition to net zero.

“Unfortunately, NG Bailey is not able to comment on any investment as it is commercially sensitive information.”

NG Bailey was due to work on Britishvolt’s planned £300m gigafactory in Northumberland where work stopped last year when the company ran out of funds.