Six organisations that are leading the way in preparing for the Green Deal scheme are to share their knowledge with the wider industry.
The Green Deal Skills Alliance (GDSA), the alliance of three built environment sector skills councils, AssetSkills, CITB-ConstructionSkills and SummitSkills, has chosen the six groups to demonstrate how organisations can upskill their workforce or prepare their customers to benefit from the Green Deal.

Carefully chosen to represent a range of public and private sector organisations, the groups were shortlisted based on their proposals put forward to the GDSA, outlining their workforce development plans in preparation for the arrival of the Government's home energy efficiency scheme.

The six exemplars are:

Association of Greater Manchester Authorities

Carillion

Kingfisher Group

Severn Wye Energy Agency in partnership with Stroud District Council, Forest of Dean District Council, South Gloucestershire Council, and Wiltshire Council

Scottish and Southern Electricity

Yorkshire Energy Services

Mark Farrar, ceo of CITB-ConstructionSkills, said: 'With our partners in the GDSA we are committed to helping the built environment sectors prepare and profit from the Green Deal scheme. These six exemplar organisations are an excellent example of how businesses and public bodies alike are being proactive and working to maximise the benefits of this opportunity.'

'The Green Deal is expected to create 65,000 jobs across the built environment for workers who possess the skills and gain accreditation. Our research indicates that many of the skills needed to deliver the work are already in the workforce, so for many people it will simply be a case of a minor upskill in order to get Green Deal accredited.'

Asset Skills CEO Sarah Bentley said: 'Working together with our GDSA partners, we will aim to ensure the right skills are in place to help different occupations work together to deliver an effective Green Deal service. It will also be important to help us understand how different Green Deal Providers, from retailers to local authorities, are evolving to deliver energy efficiency.'