The low carbon revolution promises to be a bright spot as the industry pulls itself out of recession. Contractors need to make sure that their employees have the right skills to go green, says Mark Northcott.
Training is good for business. It helps you develop the skills of your employees, making you better equipped to achieve the productivity, innovation and profitability to succeed. Without continual development of your staff, your business can fail to grow and grasp new opportunities.

From apprenticeships to management skills, good, relevant and timely training affects everyone in your business. It improves customer service, technical knowledge and overall ability, all of which keep your clients happy. It increases your employees' confidence and job satisfaction. And it creates new opportunities, grows your business and adds to the bottom line.

In the building services arena, continual development of skills is crucial. The heating sector has been buoyed by the potential offered by both the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and the recentlyannounced Green Deal. Both initiatives will play their part in helping the government meet its commitment to an 80 per cent carbon reduction target by 2050.

There are significant growth opportunities to those contractors that have the right skills in place. Those that do not will be left behind.

The success of such initiatives will hinge on the availability of a workforce of highly trained and approved installers of environmental technologies. To be eligible to receive the tariffs on offer from the RHI scheme, for example, heating contractors have to be accredited to the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and to use products also approved under the scheme. The Green Deal will also go down the route of using approved installers only.

SummitSkills, the sector skills council for building services engineering, earlier this year established the National Skills Academy for Environmental Technologies, a nationwide network of training providers which will help businesses to develop the skills they need to play their part in the low carbon revolution. It is vital that you choose the right supplier when looking for the appropriate training.

SummitSkills chief executive Keith Marshall said: 'Our experience unfortunately shows that there is likely to be a plethora of organisations trying to offer traders below-standard training to cash in on the extra interest generated by the Government's green initiatives and the extra demand that they create for renewable technologies like solar panels and ground- and air-source heat pumps.'

With the introduction of the National Skills Academy, the industry now has a recognised, countrywide network of accredited renewables training provision offering qualifications that meet the requirements of future legislation. The Skills Academy will consist of an initial 14 leading 'hub' colleges across the country working in partnership with other training providers to offer the environmental qualifications to upskill existing workers in the building services sector. Training will also take place for new entrants to the sector as part of their apprenticeship.

Over 80 colleges and other training providers across England have been accredited under the National Skills Academy banner. Skills minister John Hayes said: 'The Prime Minister has set an ambition for this to be the greenest government ever. To achieve this, government, employers and training providers must work together to deliver the skills that will enable our economy to achieve truly sustainable growth.

'By giving the industries that design, install and maintain green solutions for homes and buildings access to world class training, the Skills Academy will help ensure that the UK not only meets its emissions targets but leads the world in innovation.'

An important part to play

Of course, manufacturers have an important part to play as well. Remeha Commercial is at the forefront of LZC heating technology, be they high efficiency condensing boilers or biomass boilers, and runs hundreds of CPD sessions and presentations to keep the professional end of industry informed. Remeha Commercial provides hands on training for all of its product ranges.

The training is run by regional technical support engineers and typically runs over two days. It includes an overview, installation guidelines, advice on controls, how to set up the kit, the software, how to wire it up, and safety features. The training can take place either at Remeha Commercial, where a new training centre is currently being set up, or on site.

The engineers that attend the courses like having a fellow engineer to train them. There is no attempt to deliver a sales pitch; this is just about making people familiar with the products and teaching them the technical side of Remeha equipment.

Both parties benefit from the relationship. If a supplier provides good aftersales care and training, it will get loyal customers. The contractor benefits from increased knowledge of the products, better performance and happier clients.

• Mark Northcott is managing director at Remeha Commercial.