A groundbreaking collaboration between Essex County Council and workforce development specialist, The Retrofit Academy, is yielding significant improvements for the region’s retrofit workforce, while also earning prestigious industry awards.
With over 422,000 homes in the county in southeast England holding an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or lower and a shortage of qualified retrofit professionals, the partnership was formed to address these challenges and deliver innovative solutions for the local authority.
The collaboration secured £703,000 from the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund (CRF) through a successful bid. The project, named the Harlow and Tendring Retrofit Pipeline for Economic Renewal, not only aims to upgrade the energy performance of housing stock but also seeks to improve socio-economic conditions for residents in Harlow and Tendring, two of the most deprived boroughs in the country.
Through organizational development, business support, research, knowledge sharing, the creation of new qualifications, and the establishment of a franchised training provider, the partnership has already transformed local retrofit provision.
Over the course of 12 months, 248 Essex residents obtained the PAS 2035 qualification, enabling them to assess domestic properties for energy retrofit, with 17 of these individuals achieving the qualification while unemployed. The partnership foresees a total of 138 graduates with Retrofit Assessor or Retrofit Coordinator qualifications, and four people have already secured retrofit-specific jobs.
Fit for Retrofit, a comprehensive training course, was delivered to 42 individuals from 10 housing associations and local authorities, while 20 businesses received support to gain PAS 2030 certification, enabling them to execute energy efficiency measures in domestic retrofit projects.
The remarkable achievements of the partnership were recognized with two esteemed industry awards. Essex County Council earned the Collaboration of the year – knowledge building and research award at this year’s Unlock Net Zero Live Awards, and the Delivering Clean Growth award at the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) President’s Awards 2023.
This collaborative effort not only identified the demand for retrofit skills in the current workforce but also addressed employment barriers for local people, existing skills gaps, and engaged key employers.
We are continuing to work in collaboration with The Retrofit Academy to support the decarbonization of the built environment
Loretta Hoy, Green Sector Growth Manager at Essex County Council, comments, “We are continuing to work in collaboration with The Retrofit Academy to support the decarbonization of the built environment, while harnessing Green Growth for the benefit of the local economy.”
David Pierpoint, Chief Executive at The Retrofit Academy, adds, “By bringing multiple local partners together to pool their ambition, expertise, and passion, we’ve been able to achieve real change.”
