UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE - Wind Energy Network

SKILLS GAP
Powerskills UK
Training a New
Breed of Wind Farm
Engineer
The considerable investment in
renewable energies in Yorkshire and
Humber, including construction of the
world’s largest offshore wind farms,
has proven to be a major business
catalyst for different service provider
organisations.
Powerskills UK, a unique training
organisation, has responded rapidly
to providing a range of cutting-edge
engineering training options to help meet
an almost overnight skills gap.
Selby College
Powerskills UK is located in the market
town of Selby in North Yorkshire, where
it operates from state-of-the-art facilities
on the newly-built £35m Selby College
campus.
The organisation has very solid roots,
based on many years of successful
partnership working; supporting the
training needs of the large power stations
in the area and a burgeoning engineering
sector. Powerskills UK has seen its
customer base rapidly expand based
on its reputation for delivering bespoke
training that matches employer needs.
As Ann Dobbs, Director said, “We were
originally approached by a group of
employer partners who were frustrated
by the lack of specialist training available
locally and wanted to develop a tailored
employee skills programme. This
followed an unprecedented demand
for trained engineers in Yorkshire
and Humber as a direct result of the
estimated £14 billion investment by 2015
in renewable energy production in the
region. The demand for trained staff
quadrupled in as many weeks leaving a
skills gap that could not immediately be
filled locally with existing employees.”
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk