British Gas puts finishing touches to UK's first green skills centre

Energy giant British Gas has moved to address growing concerns about a looming low-carbon skills crisis, announcing plans for a new Green Skills Training Centre in Tredegar in the South Wales valleys, to be opened later this year.

The new centre, which the company said will be the first of its type anywhere in the UK, is expected to train more than 1,300 people each year, including new and existing British Gas staff and people in South Wales suffering from long-term unemployment.

The centre has been developed in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government as part of its £140m regeneration programme for the area, and has also secured support from the local Jobcentre and skills development agencies.

It is expected to focus on developing a range of green skills, with a particular focus on installing onsite renewable energy systems and undertaking building energy-efficiency improvements. Graduates of the centre are also expected to support Welsh Assembly plans to provide energy-efficiency building makeovers to about 40,000 homes in South Wales as part of its efforts to create Europe's largest low-carbon area.

"Extremely ambitious targets have been set for the Low Carbon Zone where the ultimate aim is to reduce fuel poverty and attract investment to develop the highest concentration of renewable energy businesses in Europe," said Welsh first minister Rhodri Morgan. "It is against these targets and this context that the importance of this unique training centre for green skills can be fully appreciated."

The news follows warnings last month from one of the UK's leading specialist green recruitment firms that the fast-expanding low-carbon sector was already facing serious skills shortages in some areas.

Recruitment firm Acre Resources warned that renewable energy firms were experiencing difficulty in finding UK workers with the technical and engineering skills they require, forcing many of them to look overseas to fill vacancies.

The government has said it is aware of the potential green skills shortages and has promised that a range of new low-carbon training and skills initiatives will be unveiled in the coming months.

In related news, British Gas this week moved to further bolster its business energy services portfolio with the £3.5m acquisition of Newnova Group Limited, a specialist in facility services and building control systems that trades under BMS Solutions Ltd and BMS Setpoint Ltd.

The company said the deal, which represents the fifth acquisition it has made in the energy and building management space in the past year, will enhance its ability to offer business customers energy audits and green building improvements.

Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas, said the acquisitions formed a key plank in the company's growth strategy and would significantly strengthen its position in the "growing low-carbon energy services market for business customers".