British Gas has created its own engineering academy to tackle the sector’s
skills shortages.
The academy pulls together all of British Gas’ engineering training and will
co-ordinate engineering recruitment, skills training and apprentice development
across the company.
Rod Kenyon, director of the British Gas Engineering Academy, said the
company had decided to tackle the shortage of skilled engineers head on.
"Engineers are the public face of the company, carrying out more than 6
million jobs in customers’ homes every year. The move underlines our commitment
to investing in people, skills and training to meet the future needs of
customers."
The new academy will work closely with external bodies, including the
Government and the utilities industry to promote engineering training and to
reduce skills shortages.
Earlier this year British Gas announced it was hoping to recruit an
additional 3,000 engineers over the next three years.
Kenyon said although the company is on target to recruit the numbers
required, skills shortages are particularly acute in London and it is
developing a programme to entice more people from the capital into training
apprenticeships.
He said shortening the length of apprenticeships meant they can now be
completed in a year, making a career at British Gas more attractive.
