Jennifer Perry and Wayne Stannett from Swarm Training and Swarm REAGIT attend EEEGR Meeting Event at Parliament

Jennifer Perry and Wayne Stannett from Swarm Training and Swarm REAGIT attended the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) networking meeting on Wednesday 30th April at the Houses of Parliament.  They were proud to represent the Further Education sector to talk about Skills needs and how they can help to support and provide the training the energy sector is looking for.

The East of England has a unique position as a leader in energy & innovation, and needs to maintain the important part it plays in the journey to NetZero.  Swarm Training and Swarm REAGIT are already well invested in supporting the industry to fulfil its skills gaps and we want to keep doing more to help the industry thrive.

Jennifer said…

“This region is hugely important for the national energy picture, it is a huge growth area; there is a huge need for identifying and closing skills gaps; unemployment and NEET figures are growing with places like Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft having some of the highest in the country- but, there is a real issue with joining the dots between gaps in the work force and people wanting jobs.

This event was an opportunity to get lots of like-minded people in a room with the ear of well-placed MPs and everyone was in agreement that we need to do something fast.”

There were over 200 delegates at the annual reception and the message was that with Government investment, the region has the capability to deliver 20,000 new jobs! 

Speaker, Alex Spencer, encouraged:
– Championing the industry
– Acting with urgency to meet the 2030 skills demand
– Listening to the knowledge and experience already thriving in the energy workforce.

Bill Esterson said, “In the East of England you are going to be responsible for 30% of the UKs capacity, which is enormous. That means having the support of Government to put in place the grid infrastructure”. 

Denise Hone commented that there are ‘super-ambitious’ plans for the region, but warned that key barriers to current offshore wind deployment should be removed, including grid constraints. 

Suffolk student, Millie Simon, a Public Affairs Industrial Placement student at Sizewell C said opportunities for young people were ‘slightly on the huh’ calling out the ‘persistent disconnect’ where businesses are left with skills shortages and young people with few highly paid opportunities.

At Swarm Training and Swarm REAGIT, we know this last situation only too well.  We are very aware of the skills shortages that businesses have but many are retreating into themselves with the worries over higher bills and taxes from the last Government Budget.  On the other hand there are huge numbers of young people wanting and ready to work, they just need businesses to take a chance on them and to train them. 

As an Independent Training Provider, we have the flexibility and agility to identify skills gaps and develop/ find an apprenticeship which helps to close it.  The colleges are not in a position to be that agile.  We can turn things around quickly because we aren’t tied to term times and those other kinds of formal constraints.  That means we can get new or existing employees up to speed very fast and get them performing well and delivering ROI quickly for your business.

We want to encourage you… in the energy sector or any businesses reading this…

…we know that you will very likely have either skills shortages or are struggling with succession planning.  Apprenticeships are the incredibly affordable way forward and we can help you.  Reach out to us for a conversation.  Wayne and Lou Stannett at Swarm REAGIT are perfectly placed to support you with engineering training and Swarm Training can help you with your business training needs and fill those skills shortages quickly.  We are a highly rated education provider with an Ofsted rating of ‘Good‘ with ‘Outstanding’ features. Not only that, but our sister company, Swarm Recruitment, are experts in recruiting business and engineering apprentices with many years of experience.

Give us a call:  0800 0868199
Or email on [email protected]

We’d also really like to invite you to attend the free Swarm REAGIT open day on
Wednesday 7^th May
10am-12pm or 1pm-3pm

Session 1 – starts at 10am
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/swarm-reagit-open-day-am-tickets-1335583820159

Session 2 – starts at 1pm
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/swarm-reagit-open-day-pm-tickets-1335598784919