Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has launched new retrofit courses in a bid to boost employment opportunities and support the region’s decarbonisation ambitions.
The authority has awarded funding to the Growth Company to facilitate the courses, which will aim to support people with their careers in the green economy.
The Accelerating Net-Zero Opportunities course launched last year, with new fully funded courses in retrofitting being added to the current green skills courses on offer to people living or working in Greater Manchester.
The programme is funded through the European Social Fund as part of GMCA’s three-year Skills for Growth programme, which has been created in partnership with employers that have highlighted skills gaps they need filling.
Those on the course will be taught the basic principles of domestic retrofit, as well as skills in improving the energy-efficiency measures of older buildings.
The training has been designed to support people to take the next step in their careers, while at the same time assisting Greater Manchester’s target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2038.
‘First key step’
Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, GMCA lead for Education, Work, Skills, Apprenticeships, and Digital said: “Training and upskilling Greater Manchester’s workforce in retrofitting is the first key step in moving towards a cleaner, greener, and low-carbon city-region.
“Thousands of buildings in our city-region will require upgrading with energy-efficient measures, and this is going to need to be carried out on a mass scale by a skilled workforce.
“We want everybody in the city-region to have the opportunity to upskill into the new roles, and this Skills for Growth programme will help create pathways into the industry for an additional 150 people.”
Councillor Martyn Cox, Greater Manchester’s Green City-Region lead, said: “The retrofit sector in Greater Manchester continues to grow, with employers highlighting the need for a workforce trained in skills such as insulation, ventilation, and other domestic retrofit skills.
“Skills for Growth is helping with connecting the dots between the city-region achieving carbon neutral status, fulfilling skills gaps and job opportunities, as well as assisting our residents during the fuel crisis to keep costs down through installing cost-effective energy saving methods in their homes.”
The retrofitting training will be carried out at Growth Company’s new Green Skills Academy facility, based in Trafford Park.
The facility has been specially created to educate industry professionals on green skills and technologies.
Roosevelt Alexander, director of the Green Skills Academy at The Growth Company Education and Skills, said: “These new courses will play a crucial role in plugging the skills gap and ensuring the workforce is prepared for the mass upgrading of Greater Manchester’s buildings, and we look forward to welcoming the first cohort of learners to our brand-new Green Skills Academy.
“Learners will benefit from access to the latest emerging green technologies and techniques, giving them an understanding of how to improve energy efficiency measures and the skills needed to support the Greater Manchester Retrofitting Task Force and establish a future-proof career.”
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