Believ has raised a £300m investment facility to install at least 30,000 charge points nationwide.

The funding is led by the charge point operator’s joint owners Liberty Global and Zouk Capital, along with four retail and infrastructure financing banks – Santander, ABN Amro, NatWest and MUFG.

The funding makes the company one of the UK’s best-backed charge point operators and will play a pivotal role in the further expansion of its network, boosting access for EV drivers.

Believ will partner with both public and private sector organisations to ensure chargers are rolled out in optimum locations to encourage EV uptake. Much of the investment will be dedicated to on-street, residential locations designed to help drivers without off-street parking transition to EVs. Significant funding will also be allocated to rapid and ultra-rapid charging hubs as well as rural, “underserved” locations.

Believ said the funding demonstrates how private sector investment can be used in partnership with local government and businesses to bolster public transport infrastructure.

Guy Bartlett, Believ CEO, commented: “It recognises the scale of investment required and the urgency of the need. Confidence in EVs will continue to grow as drivers see more infrastructure going into the ground. At Believ, we are very proud to be at the heart of this journey.”

Jonathan Pearson, chairman at Believ and CFO, Liberty Growth at Liberty Global, picked up: “The funding announced today demonstrates the potential of partnering with the public sector in the UK to create the critical EV charging infrastructure required for a greener future. With Virgin Media O2 on board as a delivery partner and leveraging Liberty Global’s financing expertise, we look forward to Believ rolling out much-needed EV charge points throughout the UK.”

The Government has a target of 300,000 public charge points by 2030; currently drivers have access to just over 80,000.

The Government has pledged £2.3bn to help industry and drivers make a supported switch to EVs, with a £200m budget to help expand public charging and a dedicated Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund of £381m for local authorities in England.

Combined with the billions of pounds being unlocked from private investors, as shown by Believ’s latest financing, the UK’s public charging network will continue to see record growth and will help to ensure that EV drivers can charge their vehicles conveniently.

Lilian Greenwood, Minister for the Future of Roads, said: “We’re working hard to ensure all drivers can charge easily and conveniently – no matter where they are. Believ’s investment is a brilliant vote of confidence in the transition to electric and another fantastic example of government and industry working together to roll out tens of thousands of charge points across the country.”

Zouk Capital said the funding would support Believ’s work to help build the infrastructure backbone of a net zero Britain.

Massimo Resta, partner at Zouk Capital, added: “With this level of funding, Believ has the commercial strength, operational expertise, and local insight to deliver what communities and landowners need – on-street, town-centre, destination, and on-route charging – at real scale and pace.”

Zouk Capital is the manager of the UK government-anchored Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (CIIF). With seven successful EV investments to date, Zouk is the leading private equity investor in the European EV charging space.