The government has set out its first national plan to recruit and train the workforce needed for its clean-energy mission—projecting over 400,000 extra jobs by 2030 and putting plumbers alongside electricians and welders in a list of 31 priority occupations.
For the Bathroom Association and our members, the signal is clear: demand for skilled plumbing professionals is set to climb fast, and the system must scale training now.
Why this matters for our sector
Plumbers are priority hires. The plan explicitly names plumbing as a critical trade to hit national clean-energy targets—from heat pumps and district heating to water-efficiency retrofits in homes and public buildings.
Training capacity needs to grow. Five new Technical Excellence Colleges will focus on clean-energy roles, with local skills pilots in Cheshire, Lincolnshire, and Pembrokeshire.
Attractive careers, better pay. Entry-level roles in most clean-energy occupations pay around 23% more than the same roles in other sectors, with many jobs in wind, nuclear and electricity networks averaging £50,000+—a pull factor we should harness to bring new entrants into plumbing pathways.
Pathways for career-changers. The plan backs transitions for oil and gas workers, veterans (via Mission Renewable), ex-offenders, school-leavers and the unemployed—broadening the pipeline for technical trades, including plumbing.
The bigger picture (without the spin)
The government expects clean-energy employment to double to ~860,000 by 2030, backed by public and private investment across renewables, nuclear, CCUS and grid upgrades.
Workforce policies will tie public grants and contracts to “fair work” expectations, including stronger employment protections offshore and a new Fair Work Charter for offshore wind.
Education reforms target two-thirds of young people in higher-level learning by age 25 (academic, technical, or apprenticeships). The plumbing pathway should benefit if providers have the kit, tutors, and placement capacity.
In their words
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
“Communities have long been calling out for a new generation of good industrial jobs. The clean energy jobs boom can answer that call – and today we publish a landmark national plan to make it happen.
“Our plans will help create an economy in which there is no need to leave your hometown just to find a decent job. Thanks to this government’s commitment to clean energy, a generation of young people in our industrial heartlands can have well-paid secure jobs, from plumbers to electricians and welders.
“This is a pro-worker, pro-jobs, pro-union, agenda that will deliver the national renewal our country needs.”
Our take
This is a welcome move that finally quantifies the workforce needed and calls out plumbing as mission-critical. But delivery will live or die on training throughput and on-site experience. Government investment and new colleges help; industry partnerships will make or break the numbers. If we don’t rapidly grow the pipeline of qualified plumbers, clean-heat and water-efficiency targets will stall.
For more detail, see the government’s policy paper on the Clean Energy Jobs Plan.