Retrofit summit highlights concerns over skills shortage

The Retrofit Skills Growth Summit Yorkshire recently brought together industry stakeholders to discuss the retrofit skills and workforce required to reach current net-zero goals. 

The summit was held by EN:Able Communities, the charity arm of housing consortium Efficiency North.

In a survey of contractors carried out prior to the event, Efficiency North found that the demand for those needing to develop retrofit skills is set to rise in the next three years, while more than 55% of respondents expected retrofit workforce shortages in the next 12 months. 

The survey found that key barriers to upskilling workers included lack of funding for training and lack of retrofit apprenticeships, but that both further education and independent training providers plan to introduce more courses in this area over the next three years. 

During the summit, attendees discussed potential solutions to overcome the skills deficit in social housing retrofit works in West Yorkshire and beyond.

Simeon Perry, head of operations at EN:Able Communities, said: “Understanding the challenges the sector is facing is crucial to tackling them, and bringing together experts from across the industry has been a fantastic way for us to get a real insight into how we can make a difference. 

“Hearing from so many different voices about how we can shape the future of retrofit training has helped give us a clear direction of how we want to work with these training providers to both address the skills gap and better serve our local communities. 

“Now we’ve opened the conversation, we can work on key partnerships that will allow us to jointly deliver what’s needed in terms of sector upskilling.”

As a result of the discussions, EN:Able Communities is seeking to partner with training providers to help nurture and increase the number of skilled people in the retrofit sector. 

The majority of attendees at the summit have pledged to become actively involved in steering skills development in the region, while others have also pledged to maintain engagement in regional retrofit upskilling.