Green Energy Skills roundtable
Green Energy Skills round table, held at Bradford College on 16th March 2026
Green Skills were the topic for today’s Skills Round Table held at Bradford College, and organised by West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
Attendees included Arcadis Consulting, Bradford Council, Ingeus, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, 1 Energy, ACS Group, Bradford Manufacturing Futures, Green Economy West Yorkshire, and Bradford College. Who came together to discuss the Green skills needs for West Yorkshire both now and in coming years, and how private Sector, public sector and education providers can best collaborate to address these.
This, along with other skills roundtables are an integral part of hearing the employer and stakeholder voices on skills priorities as part of activity for the Local Skills Improvement Plan. Green skills was a key part of the last plan and remains high on the agenda as plans are put together for the next 3 years.
Green Skills are integral to delivery of the UK Green Jobs Plan, which aims to grow clean-energy employment to about 860,000 jobs by 2030, and to delivery of the West Yorkshire Green Jobs Plan, which aims to create 20,000 green jobs by 2030 through investment in clean energy, transport and energy-efficient buildings. This in turn will support West Yorkshire in its target to become a net-zero carbon economy by 2038.
The key points about green skills needs that emerged from the round table discussion, were the need for:
1. Digital upskilling in the sector to increase efficiencies, including use of AI.
2. Addressing hard to fill vacancies, such as skills to deliver air source heat pumps and solar, both of which also require electrical skills; energy developers, mechanical and electrical engineers, data analytics, use of AI – which can help to accelerate the Green Economy, and a big gap in employees ability to use the tech we already have, for example in data visualisation.
3. Embed sustainability into all jobs.
4. Future proof and increase the range of jobs, such as carbon accounting.
It was also recognised that a whole skills ecosystem is needed to ensure students in the sector complete their course effectively and then progress well once they enter the workplace. This perhaps involves effective connectivity between the student, parents, employer and training provider. It was felt that students still need additional support for mental wellbeing and resilience post Covid.
We also discussed support for ex-offenders and how providing them with the right skills prior to release from prison can help to ensure employment on their release. For example, if they wish to work in construction then ensuring they have their Health and Safety Certificates and CSCS cards in place will help to ensure a smoother reintegration to working life.
We heard from Bradford Energy Centre, about their construction workforce, the majority of who are over aged 55. They were keen to support more people into the industry and recognised that mentoring is a really effective way to develop skills in younger employees.
We discussed the merits of embedding skills engagement by businesses into public sector procurement activities, to help ensure that businesses are also bringing online the workforce for the future whilst delivering publicly funded projects.
Rory Langdon of Bradford Energy Limited gave an overview of the implementation of their district heating network in the urban centre of Bradford. This provides an excellent training opportunity, it is entirely localised, students can work on the project and stay in the city centre, thereby keeping jobs local and city based.
They are delivering an exciting project with large heat pumps, due to go live in September which can provide from 3-20% of local heat provision, and they are partnering with providers such as Bradford College to create skills linked to the project.
Where new skills are emerging, however it can be a challenge to recruit the right tutors to deliver these for students, particularly when their skills may be in high demand in industry as well.
One project that Bradford College said had worked well recently was partnering with a local employer to help deliver Revit Training to students.
They would welcome more industry partnerships to help upskills students though, and more funding into apprenticeships, stating that their construction courses are over subscribed and more space and resources are needed to meet student demand. They currently receive 5 applications for every college place. With additional infrastructure projects planned in the city greater investment would offer a great opportunity to help get more young people into construction and green jobs.
One initiative working really well in the college at present however is the Adult Skills Construction Academy, which has seen the College receive £500,000 from the Department for Education via the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) as part of a wider Adult Skills Fund package for regional colleges.
The project is recruiting learners into Construction and trades through local community centres. As well as offering a route to employment it delivers 6 months of mentoring which continues once the learner is in a job.
Aimed at adults aged 19 to 24, the programme offers practical training across trades including bricklaying, joinery, decorating, plumbing, tiling and electrical, alongside maths, English, employability and digital skills. It helps to address construction skills shortages as well as reducing the number of young adults that are ‘NEET’ (Not in Education, Employment or Training).
