As the number of green skilled workers continues to rise, employers can reap the benefits of upskilling courses offered by East Kent Colleges (EKC) Group.

Ashford Borough Council has appointed EKC Group to deliver specialist programmes in a bid to tackle the need for green skilled professionals in the construction and engineering industries.

By making use of the exciting courses on offer, which are funded by the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Funding, employers can pave the way to a more efficient building, construction, and engineering industry.

Employers will also be playing a key role in helping the Borough to achieve its goal of reaching net zero by 2050 by harvesting the opportunity of upskilling their workforce.

The Local Skills Improvement Plan has also highlighted the importance of green skills in the construction industry.

Rod Davies is the co-founder and director of Energy Carbon UK, a business which manufactures heating and ventilation systems in the low energy space.

He said: “We recognise that green skills are the future way of training the next generation of engineers.

“At the moment we're concentrating on bricklayers, plasterers and plumbers, but what we need to be looking at is people who understand heat pumps, PV, smart hot water tanks, and in our case things like infrared heating systems and ventilation systems that aren't going to steal energy.”

Mr Davies added that by encouraging a green skilled workforce, we can decarbonise faster.

“We’re looking for electricians to install our electric heating system, and ventilation engineers to understand our products,” he said.

“This will enable them to go out into the wider community, install the products into people's homes, and help us to decarbonise faster.

“Green skills in general are really important.”

Residents in the Borough could be eligible for free classes in programmes such as air source heat pump systems and retrofit which will be delivered at the Borough’s local centre.

All the courses have been funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and are free to those who are eligible. To find out more information please visit ekcgroup.ac.uk and search for ‘UKSPF’.

Click here for more information about the courses.