By Nicola Connelly, CEO, SP Energy Networks, and Andrew Findlay, Group CEO, M Group – Co-Chairs, Energy & Utility Skills Partnership (EUSP) CEO Council.
The energy, water, and waste sectors are at a defining moment. With more than 312,000 new people are needed across our industries by 2030; that is a huge challenge, and a transformation we must lead.
This is a once in a generation opportunity to reshape our workforce and it’s one of the core reasons why we took on the role of Co-Chairs of the EUSP CEO Council.
Eight months in and we are galvanised by the palpable enthusiasm to embrace the challenge and to deliver decisive action.
A council built for delivery, not discussion
When the EUSP CEO Council came together to endorse the Skills Strategy 2025 – 2030 , signed by more than 20 partners across the sector, the ambition was clear: this would be the mechanism for acting on the workforce challenge.
That shift has been real. Since the strategy launched, we’ve seen sharper prioritisation, clearer roles between industry and government, and a CEO Council making decisions rather than simply discussing options. Energy & Utility Skills now engages across ten government departments on the sector’s behalf – a scale of influence that didn’t exist this time last year.
The real measure of progress is how that engagement and our collective voice is shaping the policy and investment decisions that determine whether the sector can deliver.
Early impact, already visible
We know workforce strategies can take years to deliver measurable results. What’s encouraged us most in this first year is how much tangible progress we are already making.
The latest Inclusion Measurement Framework report, published this spring, has given the sector a shared, evidence-based view of who is – and isn’t – being reached by our attraction and retention efforts. It’s already shaping conversations in employer roundtables and influencing how organisations approach social inclusion as a core workforce issue.
Destination Energy has moved from concept to delivery, engaging directly with hundreds of people considering careers in our sectors and helping build a stronger, more targeted pipeline of interested candidates for employers across the sector.
Our sector entry pilots are demonstrating what’s possible when industry leads of design of its own routes into work. The early results successfully transitioning people with no prior experience and turning them into skilled members of our workforce, are among the most encouraging indicators we’ve seen all year.
Behind the scenes, our occupational standards have accelerated. Dozens of priority standards have now been reviewed or completed – a less visible but critical piece of work that will shape how we define competence and career pathways across the sector for years to come.
This progress does not come from Energy & Utility Skills acting alone. It reflects employers, DESNZ and other government partners, and organisations across the sector stepping forward as active co-owners of delivery, alongside EUSP CEO Council. This is the partnership model we now need to scale.
Sharpening our focus for 2026/27
Eight months in, Energy & Utility Skills members have been clear: the ambition of the strategy is right, but impact now depends on sharper prioritisation.
We see that as a sign of maturity. The focus for 2026/27 is being shaped directly by employer insight – grounded in what is working and where the need is now greatest after a year of real delivery.
Looking ahead, our priorities centre on three areas: deepening the evidence base that underpins every workforce decision we make, accelerating the pathways that bring people into the sector and support their progression, and ensuring industry’s voice continues to shape policy and funding decisions at the pace the challenge demands.
What this means to us personally
We lead very different organisations, a regulated network company and a major contractor and supplier operating within the same system, and that contrast shapes how we each see this role.
From an M Group perspective, it’s about making sure the Council remains a mechanism for action rather than discussion – something we and the wider infrastructure sector can point to as genuinely moving the dial on the skills challenges we all face.
For SP Energy Networks, the focus has been on strengthening the sector’s strategic voice – connecting the scale of network investment growth she sees first-hand with the sector-wide workforce skills capability that growth depends on.
What we both agree on is how interconnected that growth has become. No organisation can deliver in isolation. Success depends on the strength of supply chains, the availability of skills across the sector, and the pace at which industries can attract and develop new people. The Council brings together perspectives from asset owners to contractors and suppliers to reflect the whole system, not just part of it.
There’s a strong personal motivation behind this work too. We both want this sector recognised as an industry of choice, one that people actively choose for long-term, skilled careers. That means widening access for apprentices, graduates, creating opportunities for people from non-traditional backgrounds, and making it easier for people to transition in from adjacent industries where their skills are urgently needed.
Success, for us, is strengthening the link between sector growth and workforce capability, so that as demand increases, people and organisations can grow alongside it.
An open invitation
If your organisation isn’t yet part of that conversation, we’d encourage you to look at what the Council does and consider joining us. The decisions being shaped now, on funding, on standards, on how we attract and retain the next generation of our workforce, will define the sector for the rest of the decade.
To find out more, visit Skills Strategy 2025-2030 or CEO Council.
Nicola Connelly is CEO of SP Energy Networks, part of the Scottishpower Group, and Andrew Findlay is Group CEO of M Group. Both serve as Co-Chairs of the EUSP CEO Council.
