With a significant local demand for retrofit delivery, there are big opportunities for energy and construction businesses across the county. In order to capitalise on the demand, businesses need to ensure they have a suitably-skilled workforce.

Funded by the Local Skills Improvement Fund, the Bucks Green Energy Skills Hub will be used to upskill construction and engineering workforces in the county, giving more people within the sector the training needed to install low carbon technologies.

What facilities does the training hub offer?

The Bucks Green Energy Skills Hub, based at the Aylesbury Campus of Bucks College Group, has eleven bays that will be available to students aged 16-18 on a full-time study programme and those over 19 who are already in employment looking to upskill or retrain.

The Hub includes live working bays, student installation bays and fault-finding bays all filled with low carbon technology including heat pumps, EV chargers, solar and battery storage.

The launch event

Buckinghamshire College Group launched the new training facility in May 2024, in partnership with Daikin, Quantum Group, and Buckinghamshire Business First.

The launch event began with a welcome from Principal and CEO of Buckinghamshire College Group, Jenny Craig, followed by presentations from Buckinghamshire Business First, Buckinghamshire Council, Fairhive Homes, Hepplethwaite, and Bucks College Group Faculty Director of Construction and Technology, Matthew Cappell.

You can see the slides of the presentations given by:

• Jenny Craig,  Principal and CEO, Buckinghamshire College Group
• Alexander Beckett, Climate Change Programme & Partnership Manager at Buckinghamshire Council
• Martin-Christian Kent, Buckinghamshire Business First 
• Cecily Church, Head of Sustainability, Fairhive Homes
• Jamie Howard, Heppelthwaite
• Matthew Cappell, Faculty Director of Construction and Technology, Bucks College Group

These are packed full of information about the support available to help businesses upskill on low carbon technologies.

Martin-Christian Kent delivered a presentation on behalf of Buckinghamshire Business First that explored the opportunities for building retrofit skills in Buckinghamshire, and presented the findings of research into retrofit skills in Buckinghamshire. You can see the slides from Martin-Christian's presentation here >

Matt Cappell, Faculty Director of Construction and Technology said: "Having this facility built at Buckinghamshire College Group is a fantastic opportunity. It demonstrates our commitment to being at the forefront of developing a greener curriculum and helping local stakeholders improve their businesses to be more environmentally friendly. The facility will enhance current learners' courses with additional training, offers supplementary qualifications to apprentices, and provides existing renewables engineers with opportunities to stay updated with industry advancements. It will also help local plumbing and gas engineers upskill to become renewables engineers. I want to thank Quantum and Daikin for supporting the College with the installation."

Learn more and get involved

To learn more about upskilling your workforce in low carbon technologies and green skills, contact John Browning, Workforce Skills Manager at Buckinghamshire Business First: [email protected] / 01494 927130.