As over a billion pounds in funding has become available for large-scale, high-quality retrofit projects, housing associations, social housing providers, local authorities and contractors can now access the best in retrofitting talent following the launch of a new careers platform.
As the organisation announced its milestone of 5,000 people being enrolled on its courses, The Retrofit Academy has launched its Careers Hub to help prospective employers of retrofit advisors, coordinators and assessors find emerging talent.
This comes as the Government recently announced £1.8bn in funding for the large-scale retrofitting of homes in the form of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) and Home Upgrade Grant (HUG). As housing associations, social housing providers, local authorities and their appointed contractors now have the financial support to deliver large scale retrofit, the UK requires a sizable, qualified workforce.
Companies searching for skilled retrofit talent can now become an organisational member of The Retrofit Academy, joining the multiple organisations already active on the platform. Here, they can set up a virtual stand from which they can host information about their company, interact with prospective talent and, crucially, advertise open retrofit employment opportunities direct to those considering a career in retrofit, in training or already qualified.
Being the driving force behind large-scale, high-quality retrofitting and creating the workforce to deliver it is central to The Retrofit Academy’s strategy, as the organisation’s CEO, David Pierpoint, explains.
David said: “Retrofitting 27 million homes in less than 30 years is going to require hundreds of thousands of new, skilled people. The Retrofit Careers Hub will provide those people with a front door to the industry, providing information, advice and guidance. We are now able to offer our partner companies a platform to access the best fresh talent entering the sector.”
The hub provides useful tools for individuals looking to develop or start their career in retrofit, not only by connecting them with employers and job opportunities, but also by presenting them with networking, knowledge resources and training opportunities.
A programme of regular virtual events and online forums meanwhile, will ensure this community of affiliated employers and retrofit professionals can benefit from the expertise offered through The Retrofit Academy’s extended network of specialist partners.
David adds: “With more than 400,000 competent retrofitters needed to achieve our 2050 carbon-saving targets, The Retrofit Academy is driving the development of the workforce by delivering 200,000 of them. Having already enrolled 5,000 people to our courses, this new Hub is a key enabler for everyone involved in the whole house retrofitting challenge to develop and access a qualified workforce to achieve this goal.” For more information about the new Retrofit Careers Hub, link to enquire and to sign up, click here
