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Northumbrian Water and Northern Powergrid join forces under Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership

With 221,000 new recruits needed to maintain Britain’s energy and utilities sector by 2021, industry leaders are coming together under a new banner to tackle the future skills gap.

Northumbrian Water and Northern Powergrid are the latest firms to join the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership, which aims to ultimately build and launch the first ever joint Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy for the sector.

Heidi Mottram, Chief Executive of Northumbrian Water, said: “Attracting people with the right skills to meet the future needs of the energy and utilities sector is a challenge we all face and the importance of taking collective action cannot be underestimated. This strategy is a welcome development and a timely one.

“This is an exciting time, our industry offers a variety of fantastic career opportunities and, as we face future anticipated skills gaps and shortages we need to take action now to highlight the many opportunities on offer.”

Phil Jones, President and Chief Executive of Northern Powergrid, the region’s electricity distributor, said: “Put simply: attracting the significant number of skilled people that we need in our sector is a significant challenge - and there is strength in numbers.

“Being part of the Energy and Utilities Skills Partnership and supporting the Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy gives both the energy industry - and Northern Powergrid – a platform to collectively address the long-term workforce challenges we face.

“More broadly; businesses, regulators and government – local and central – must look for every opportunity to collaborate and find the right solutions. A concerted effort has to be the right answer.

“The strategy work highlights a number of key priorities that are not only relevant to our sector, but to the wider economy, for example the need to drive a significant increase in STEMs skills. Apart from mattering to businesses like ours, the lack of these skills could be a real brake on growth across the UK, not least in the part of the country we serve.”

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