Renewables Skills Roundtable Held in North Wales
The North Wales Regional Skills Partnership in collaboration with Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, hosted a highly successful Renewables Skills Roundtable at Coleg Llandrillo’s Engineering Centre on the Rhyl campus. The event brought together leading employers, industry specialists, further and higher education providers, Medr and Welsh Government representatives to discuss the skills needed to support Wales’ transition to Net Zero.
The roundtable forms part of wider preparations for the 2025 WorldSkills UK National Finals, which was held in Wales for the first time from 25–28 November. To coincide with this landmark event there was a Spotlight on Skills Excellence, celebrating regional talent and showcasing North Wales as a driving force for skills innovation.
The event started with a warm welcome from Aled Jones-Griffith, CEO of Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, followed by David Roberts, Chair of the North Wales Regional Skills Partnership, and Paul Flanagan, Principal of Coleg Llandrillo. Each speaker emphasised the importance of collaborative partnership in developing a workforce equipped to meet the demands of the rapidly growing renewable sector.
Attendees also heard from Damian Woodford, Assistant Principal, who provided an update on Coleg Llandrillo’s involvement in the WorldSkills UK National Finals, alongside an RWE Apprentice sharing their experience. Presentations followed from Andrew Granville, Welsh Government’s Head of Net Zero & Digital Skills, and the MEDR Apprenticeships team, who outlined current national developments and opportunities within the training and apprenticeship landscape.
Roundtable Discussion: Skills Challenges and Opportunities
The core of the event was an in-depth roundtable discussion. Participants explored current skills gaps, recruitment challenges, and future workforce needs across the region. Key themes included:
- Skills Gaps: Systems thinking, practical problem solving, communication skills, cyber security, and emerging Industry 4.0 capabilities.
- Recruitment Challenges: Acute shortages in core construction and engineering roles, including welders, electricians, scaffolders, and technicians.
- Future Technologies: The increasing impact of automation, AI, digitalisation, subsea engineering, synthetic fuels and environmental data roles.
- Cross-Sector Skills Needs: Project management, stakeholder engagement and environmental monitoring skills.
A clear message emerged: North Wales needs more of everything. While training programmes broadly exist, the scale of delivery must grow to meet sector demand. Improving communication and visibility of career opportunities was also identified as crucial.
Looking Ahead
The Renewables Roundtable has created strong foundations for ongoing collaboration, enabling partners to identify how training opportunities, apprenticeships, and industry engagement can best support a prosperous, sustainable and Net Zero-ready Wales. There was clear enthusiasm from attendees to continue these discussions and build on the momentum generated at this event.
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