The Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership is a collective of leading sector employers that is working together to secure the continual seamless delivery of the wider sector’s services across the UK. The Skills Partnership’s mission is to “ensure a safe, skilled and sustainable workforce provides the essential services that our customers seek and meets the UK’s needs from the energy and utilities infrastructure.”
The Delivery Board is a group of senior company representatives from the Skills Partnership employers, who are responsible for ensuring that the Skills Partnerships priorities are delivered across their organisations. They meet quarterly to review their progress, share evidence of best practice and plan actions toward improvement, whilst addressing the latest skills challenges. The Delivery Board was previously chaired by Dave Newborough, who was then E.ON’s UK’s HR Director, and has since retired from that role.
Chris Norbury said: “I am really excited to be taking this on and look forward to working together with employers across the energy and utilities sector to address the future challenges we face in the UK.
“Our sector is changing and we recognise that in order to meet the future demands of our industry we need to ensure we continue to develop a workforce that can support us through these changes with the skills and behaviours necessary to succeed. At E.ON we recognise that if we can equip our people with the skills and experience for life they have the opportunity to succeed in whatever role they choose to do and can be part of the sustainable skilled workforce for the future of the UK.
“I hope that through my role as Chair of the Energy and Utilities Skills Partnership Delivery Board, I can continue to support the great work the Skills Partnership has achieved so far towards delivering the 2020 Energy and Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy.”
Energy & Utility Skills plays a central role in driving the Skills Partnership forward. Its Chief Operating Officer, Kate Davies, added: “The Skills Partnership was formed at a pivotal time for the future of UK infrastructure to ensure that our strategically important sector has a resilient, skilled and sustainable workforce.
“Dave played an important part in growing the Partnership and releasing the first-ever Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy for the sector. It stimulated tangible gains such as increasing investment in skills, taking targeted action to address skills shortages and making the sector more attractive as a potential employer.
“Many of these gains were evident within the Skills Strategy’s first year, so we take this opportunity to thank Dave for his valued contribution. We also welcome Chris on board to support the sector in the next phase of the Skills Strategy and to continue driving critical sector initiatives forward.”
For more information on the Skills Partnership pages on the Energy & Utility Skills website.