Heat pump engineers and businesses say that a lack of available staff is the top barrier to installing more heat pumps where there is demand for installations, one of the most comprehensive surveys of UK heat pump installers finds.
Nesta, the innovation charity, analysed 345 responses to a survey of heat pump installers co-devised with industry and run in partnership with heat pump training consultant Nathan Gambling and Emma Bohan of heat pump firm IMS Heat Pumps, between October and November 2023.
It found that a third of respondents (30%) reported that finding suitable additional staff was the biggest barrier to installing more heat pumps, after a lack of customer demand (41%).
Heat pump engineers who cited a lack of customer demand as an issue believe customers aren’t choosing to progress with installations either because of the general cost of heat pump installations, or because they’ve received a cheaper quote from other companies. This suggests that even with government-funded grants, additional finance schemes for heat pump installations are needed.
Recruitment is an even bigger issue for larger heat pump businesses. For heat pump businesses with 6 or more staff, 41% said that finding additional staff is the biggest barrier.
This barrier in recruitment is a particular challenge as many heat pump companies reported that they were looking to expand, with a large majority of respondents (81%) from firms with 6 or more staff reporting that they were likely or very likely to employ new staff in the next 12 months.
While all heat pump business owners noted they needed to boost their businesses’ skills in core areas like heat loss surveying (16%), administration (14%), heating system design (13%), plumbing (11%) and F-Gas training (11%), owners of heat pump companies with 6 or more staff also noted that they needed candidates with broader skills to grow their business. Sales and marketing was the top skill desired overall and particularly by businesses with more staff, rising from 18% overall to 28% for companies with 6 or more staff.
Smaller heat pump businesses – sole traders and company owners with 1-5 employees – had a much lower confidence in the level of training that graduates from apprenticeship schemes have compared to larger heat pump company owners. Two thirds of sole traders (60%) and company owners with 1-5 employees (66%) had no or very little confidence in the training of recent graduates from apprenticeships. In particular, they thought that the training apprentices receive on practical heat pump installation and general plumbing skills needed improving.
Nesta’s previous research has suggested that around 37,000 installers might be needed by 2030 to deliver on the UK’s net zero commitments.
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