A green recovery can help to rebuild Britain’s economy – Hayden Wood

THE last few weeks have made for depressing watching. Beyond the personal damage Covid-19 has done to so many families, it’s impossible to miss the doom and gloom about the economic damage yet to come.
Hayden Wood is co-founder and CEO of Bulb, the UK’s largest renewable energy company.Hayden Wood is co-founder and CEO of Bulb, the UK’s largest renewable energy company.
Hayden Wood is co-founder and CEO of Bulb, the UK’s largest renewable energy company.

Given the difficulties that businesses, households and our essential services are facing right now, it’s hard to deny that these predictions are at least very, very possible.

But there is reason to be optimistic. In trying times, governments tend to throw the rule book out – looking for new ideas, new policy and in turn, new opportunities.

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We saw an example of this when Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his commitment to a ‘green industrial revolution’.

Is a green energy revolution the key to the country's recovering following the Covid-19 pandemic?Is a green energy revolution the key to the country's recovering following the Covid-19 pandemic?
Is a green energy revolution the key to the country's recovering following the Covid-19 pandemic?

My company, Bulb, is tackling the climate crisis by offering cheaper, greener energy – so I naturally welcomed this announcement.

But, beyond that, the impact of a 
green industrial revolution could be 
huge. It could save our economy, help save our planet, and spread jobs and opportunity across all four corners of the UK.

In their 2019 manifesto, this Government committed to create two million new, green jobs to build the technologies of the future, boost renewable energy and cut emissions.

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We didn’t realise at the time how necessary those two million jobs would be – but they can’t be filled without the necessary training and skills being offered to the workforce.

Should plans for electric cars be accelerated?Should plans for electric cars be accelerated?
Should plans for electric cars be accelerated?

The Government should focus these opportunities on some of the most deprived areas of the UK.

Data from the Institute for Employment Studies reports that 
there are an average of almost 12 unemployed people for every one open job role in the industrial heartland covering bits of Scotland, Wales and the North.

In areas like Redcar and Cleveland, these numbers are far higher. Coronavirus has exacerbated the problem: the level of unemployment has increased by almost three times since March, and the number of job openings are much lower. In Harrogate, job openings have fallen by just under 70 per cent.

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But the industrial heartlands don’t only need the employment that a green revolution would bring, they also need the technology.

Hayden Wood is co-founder and CEO of Bulb, the UK’s largest renewable energy company.Hayden Wood is co-founder and CEO of Bulb, the UK’s largest renewable energy company.
Hayden Wood is co-founder and CEO of Bulb, the UK’s largest renewable energy company.

These same areas tend to have the highest proportion of greenhouse gas guzzling businesses, which will need state of the art technology to reach the Government’s commitment of net zero emissions by 2050.

A green recovery is a key way to 
both. The Government will be able to further its ‘levelling up’ agenda: 
investing in people and transforming industrial towns into clean energy and technology hubs, with thriving new businesses and supply chains, well-paid jobs and the opportunity to learn new skills.

It will take more than a vision to deliver this. One challenge will come in getting the country literally ‘up for the job’. Large chunks of the workforce will need to learn new skills and retrain.

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The jobs offered by a booming green growth sector will cover everything from data scientists who can identify how to decarbonise sectors; engineers that can build game-changing technologies; technicians to install them around the country; and builders to create cleaner and more energy efficient buildings, homes and workplaces.

In my own company, Bulb, technology is so vital that 30 per cent or our staff are in related roles and we’re still hiring now for more tech specialists.

These aren’t skills that appear overnight. The Government will need to offer training, coaching and opportunities to help people learn them, in the form of green reskilling, apprenticeships and job creation programmes.

As such, the green recovery provides a triple chance: the opportunity to rebuild our economy, fight the 
climate crisis and ‘level up’, all in one programme.

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It would create new, green jobs across the country, with a particular focus on eradicating regional inequality. But it’s useless in half measures – and can’t be done without a skilled and productive workforce.

To be effective, the green recovery will need true commitment from the Government.

Hayden Wood is co-founder and CEO of Bulb, the UK’s largest renewable energy company.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

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James Mitchinson

Editor

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