More than 1,800 training opportunities will be available to employers in the building services engineering (BSE) sector over the next year, courtesy of SummitSkills and the Joint Investment Programme.

These opportunities for employers to invest in the future of their employees through accredited training are being provided between September 2011 and July 2012.

"Increasing the employability of the existing and future workforce in our sector is paramount to its success. To be able to deliver the Government’s low carbon agenda, it is vital for employers to engage their workforce in training for the future and growing their company's technological expertise," commented Bob Blake, operations manager at SummitSkills.

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Over the past 12 months, as part of its ongoing work to safeguard standards and enhance expertise in the sector, SummitSkills has already offered up to 900 opportunities for existing workers or newcomers to the sector to acquire new skills and expand their knowledge in environmental technologies, through the Joint Investment Programme.

The programme enables employers and training providers to receive up to 50% of their training costs. SummitSkills is encouraging employers to take advantage of the opportunity to train their workforce in areas which enable them to meet industry-specific competent person scheme (CPS) requirements and for installers to qualify for registration with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). Registration with the MCS is likely to become increasingly important for employers, as it will enable householders looking to install environmental technologies to easily separate the rogue traders from the quality installers.

(CD/GK)