Agratas says 500-bed campus for Somerset gigafactory workers is not currently being taken forward

Agratas proposed a 500-bed campus for workers at its £4bn gigafactory on land at Stretcholt, opposite Sedgemoor Crematorium on the A38 and about 3.5 miles from the Gravity enterprise zone, Somerset Live reported. The campus was intended to reduce housing pressure on the towns and villages nearest the site.

Councillor Mark Healey, whose Huntspill division includes Gravity, said in December 2025 that the campus would have included restaurants, bars, a gym and a conference centre, with The Co-operative Food in negotiations to open a convenience store within the wider complex. He said delivering it would cost around £17m, with most buildings of modular construction.

Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council’s portfolio holder for transport and waste services, raised the plan at the council’s Gravity executive sub-committee in Taunton on 19 March, Yahoo News reported. “There was a suggestion or rumour that there was going to be a 500-bed campus on the A38, is that going ahead?” he asked.

Nick Cooper, Agratas’s community engagement manager, replied: “There were some discussions with a property developer. They haven’t developed it very far. There’s still discussions ongoing in the background but no decisions or commitments have been taken at this time.”

Cooper said the option was looked at mainly for the Agratas team arriving from overseas to install equipment. “It’s a possibility, but I wouldn’t say it’s progressed to a stage where we can start talking about it in terms of planning matters,” he said.

Alternative accommodation

Agratas says the 500-bed option is not currently being taken forward. Most of its workforce is housed through the private rental sector, Yahoo News reported. In lieu of a bespoke campus, staff will be accommodated through hotels, the private rental sector and short-term lettings, using a company called Brief to Event. Private rental accommodation will be sought along the M5 corridor between Bristol and Exeter, with short-term lets concentrated around Bridgwater, Puriton and Woolavington and a large proportion also sought in the Axbridge and Cheddar area.

No formal planning application for the facility had been submitted by Agratas or Property Link, the consultant named as joint applicant, Somerset Live reported.

Housing at peak construction

Robert McAlpine, which is overseeing construction of Building One, estimates around 2,900 people will be employed at the site at the peak of construction. Up to 58% of them will need accommodation within commuting distance, the equivalent of 1,693 bed spaces, Yahoo News reported.

The 500 beds proposed for the campus would have covered less than a third of that requirement. About 600 workers are on site now, according to a written report by councillor Mike Rigby, Somerset Council’s portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets. Rigby said phase two of construction will run for 14 months and raise the workforce to around 2,900, nearly five times the current headcount.

Robert McAlpine commissioned a review from Stantec of private accommodation and hotels within 45 minutes’ commute of the site, seeking to ensure using these types of accommodation would not hurt the tourist trade or exacerbate the pressures caused by the construction of Hinkley Point C, Yahoo News reported.

Recruitment

Agratas also intends to recruit around 500 employees at the Gravity site, with a further 750 added by the end of 2027, Yahoo News reported. The 500 hires would be about 12.5% of the 4,000 jobs the plant is meant to provide at full operation.

What happens next

Any decision would most likely be taken in public by Somerset Council’s planning committee north, which handles major applications in the former Sedgemoor area, Somerset Live reported. The factory is due to begin operating in late 2027, Agratas says.