Through its Skills for the Future employer panels, Coventry College connects with local businesses to keep abreast of current needs so they can respond with the right solutions. With the help of an injection of Strategic Development Funding (SDF) in 2022, the college was able to spot a need and invest this funding in programme development in a new area.
A key partner for the college is Dyson Energy Services, an energy-saving company involved in insulation, heating and renewable services. Dyson is on a sharp growth trajectory as it responds to the demand for energy efficiency services which is driven in part by UK Government investment in improvements to the energy efficiency of some 30m homes nationally. Demand has grown locally since Coventry Council won wave two funding from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to improve 8,000 homes across Coventry, covering a range of insulation measures including cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, and external wall insulation. Dyson face a skills shortage which is shared by others in the energy-efficiency sector including Westdale Midlands Ltd, an independent construction company specialising in retrofitting buildings. Both companies approached Coventry College for support with recruitment and training as they needed help creating a pipeline of candidates with retrofit skills to enable them to fulfil their order books.
Coventry College used its Stategic Development Fund to respond to this need and invest in the development of a new training programme to address these needs, working with support from REVAMP training who was contracted to carry out delivery to the first cohort. The 60-hour Green Skills Insulation Technician bootcamp is delivered at the college over two weeks and covers a range of insulation measures, including cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and external wall insulation along with energy efficiency advice and an awareness of asbestos in buildings as well as working from heights training. Westdale have contributed to the learning programme through masterclasses at the mid-way point and more recently they have started to deliver rendering skills on the bootcamp as these were additional skills needed.
Many of the learners are unemployed and recruited from referral networks across the West Midlands including the National Careers Service, Job Centre Plus and Coventry Job Shop. Although Westdale have a training centre, they do not have the capacity to sift through applicants and work with referral partners directly, so this is an additional way the college can help. This model provides a healthy pipeline of suitable candidates who are already trained to do the job required.
All learners have an interview at the end of their programme. So far 66 have completed of which around half moving into permanent employment. Once in employment, further training is offered which is co-designed with the college. This new provision is now established and operating with adult skills funding.
Adam Breagan, Cavity Wall Insulation Technician at Dyson Energy Services said: “Attending the insulation bootcamp and then joining Dyson Energy Services has been career changing for me. Being able to help communities very similar to the one I was raised in has such a rewarding feeling – that feeling of making a difference!”
