Training Provider Launched to Address Green Skills Gap

The Reed Group have launched a green skills training provider after research found that retrofit recruitment must triple in order to achieve net zero by 2050.

Reed Environment will operate within the company’s Reed in Partnership division, which offers services such as advice, e-assessments, and employment support.

Alongside their existing skills and training courses, this latest venture has launched with the view to deliver “one of the largest networks of green skills training providers in the UK.”

Between now and 2025, Reed Environment will open Energy Academies throughout the UK, which will operate in partnership with the Oxford Energy Academy, a provider of training and apprenticeships within the energy sector.

Offering courses in retrofit, as well as solar, EV, and heat pump training, the academies will be created in areas that have been identified to be most in need of net zero skills training to ensure equal access across the UK.

Research shows a significant scale up of green skills is required

The ambition to address the green skills shortage comes after the company completed research into the current reality of the situation.

The found that the current rates of retrofit recruitment must triple if the UK is to meet its 2050 net zero target.

Failing to do so will mean that the UK won’t meet its target for energy efficient installations required to meet the 2050 goal until 2105, adding 55 years to the journey to net zero.

James Reed CBE, Chairman of Reed in Partnership, said that reaching the UK’s 2050 goal is key to protecting the environment, as well as unlocking a huge economic opportunity to create highly skilled jobs. He warned: “A lack of skilled workers means we are currently falling behind.

“Nowhere is the UK’s green skills gap more apparent than in the retrofitting of our ageing housing stock.

“Currently, there is a serious shortage of retrofit training and recruitment pathways, meaning we are unable to embark on the retrofitting revolution that needs to happen.

We need urgent action if we are to meet our net-zero targets and that’s why we’re launching Reed Environment to help address this problem.

Reed Environment estimate that the new workforce it endeavours to create could reduce the carbon footprint of millions of UK homes, which are responsible for around 20% of the country’s carbon emissions.

Reed aim to significantly increase the amount of retrofitters entering the workforce

Working with the Oxford Energy Academy, training for two retrofit assessment courses will be offered initially.

These, the Domestic Energy Assessor and Retrofit Assessor, are designed to form the foundation for undertaking a retrofit project.

When at full capacity, Reed Environment will boost the current yearly recruitment levels by 94% by bringing over 1000 new retrofitters to the market each year.