Investment in training will be critical to address the continuing engineering skills shortage in the green jobs sector, according to Beth Mitchell, commercial manager at green recruiter Acre Resources.

In the emergency budget last week, the government committed to a £1.4bn package to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions and create a low carbon economy; allotting £525m to support offshore wind power, £405m for the development of low carbon technologies and £375m for home energy efficiency schemes.

Mitchell says: “We are lacking in skilled engineers and candidates with specific exposure to renewable technology.

“Currently we are sourcing professionals from mainland Europe where the talent pool is sufficient to meet our clients’ demands. Investment in training and the encouragement of the next generation to take scientific and engineering subjects is still lacking in the UK. Until the government addresses this, the UK is going to struggle to have a sustainable supply of talent.”