We said ‘Oh Yes!’ to net zero as we shared our low carbon journey

We recently showcased the critical role we’re playing in the UK’s drive to low carbon heating solutions at an event bringing together businesses committed to sustainability.

We’re at the forefront of a significant industry movement from traditional gas boilers to renewable technologies including heat pumps.

From our £60m investment at our headquarters in National Avenue, Hull, to an industry-leading commitment to heat pump training, we’ve embarked on our biggest transformation since the move from coal to gas a century ago.

We welcomed business leaders and delegates to our National Training and Technology Centre at Bridgehead business park in Hessle, East Yorkshire, to share the vital work we’re doing to upskill the country’s heating engineers to work with heat pumps.

The event formed part of a series, called “Real Stories”, delivered by Oh Yes! Net Zero – a campaign featuring more than 180 organisations across the Humber region who all share a commitment to reduce their carbon emissions.

We’re proud to be a leading member of the Oh Yes! Net Zero campaign, which recently celebrated its second anniversary.

Our Engineering Director Helen Villamuera welcomed guests at the event and shared the company’s history and net zero journey so far.

She said: “Almost a third of the UK’s total carbon emissions are generated by buildings. Within that, a quarter is created through the heating of those buildings. That means the journey we have to go through as an industry is huge.

“Luckily, we have been here before. We’ve already made the transition from coal to gas-powered boilers and now it’s time for the next chapter in our history – electrification and renewable technologies.

“It was brilliant to have the opportunity to share our story with Oh Yes! Net Zero partners and to show them the industry-leading training facilities we have for boiler installers looking to make the move to heat pumps.”

We opened our National Training and Technology Centre last year. The facility is the jewel in the crown of our national training arm, the Expert Academy.

With a capacity to train up to 5,000 installers every year, heating engineers can undertake a broad range of courses – from introductions to heat pumps and the thermodynamic cycle, to specific product training, including for our own Logic Air heat pump.

Complete with a range of simulators and testing rigs, the centre has been opened to help tackle a national shortage of heat pump engineers.

Our Training Director Andrew Johnson told event attendees: “The average age of a heating engineer in the UK is somewhere between 45 and 55. The overwhelming proportion of those are gas boiler engineers who have worked in the industry for decades.

“We currently have around 11,000 trained heat pump engineers across the UK, which has grown from 3,000 in 2022. To meet the Government’s heat pump target of 600,000 installations a year by 2028, The Heat Pump Association estimate we need a minimum of 33,700 full-time heat pump installers.

“That’s a huge amount of work and upskilling which needs to happen in a very short space of time and is exactly why we’ve invested in this centre.”

To find out more about the Oh Yes! Net Zero campaign, visit www.ohyesnetzero.co.uk