Lanes wins 5^th Skills Accord for workforce development success

Water utilities and drainage specialist Lanes Group plc has won a Procurement Skills Accord for the fifth year in a row.

The training and skills development accolade has been presented by the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership.

The company was one of 37 utility service suppliers to achieved Skills Accord status in 2023, out of 47 companies that are signatories to the programme.

The accords were presented at a Best Practice and Awards event held in Birmingham on Wednesday 24^th May 2023.

Lanes Learning and Development Specialist James Brewer said: “This is a great achievement for Lanes as a forward-thinking employer and service provider. Our strategic workforce goals and objectives are closely aligned with the aims of the energy and utilities Skills Accord.

“To success and deliver the exceptional quality services expected of us, we need to work diligently and imaginatively to make sure we have people with the right skills and attitudes to look after the needs of our customers.

“Central to that purpose is creating a place to work where people from all backgrounds and abilities have the opportunity to thrive, supported by world class training, learning and career development opportunities.

“We’re pleased with the very positive comments we’ve received from the partnership about the work we’re doing in the communities we serve to encourage people to see the advantages of working in the water industry, and for Lanes, in particular.”

The Procurement Skills Accord (PSA) is a national initiative that encourages increased investment in targeted training and skills across the energy and utilities supply chain.

Lanes Utilities, which last year won an eight year extension to its contract as the sole wastewater network services maintenance partner for Thames Water, submitted detailed evidence about its workforce development programme and performance.

This was assessed against the accord criteria, which includes: initiatives to address skills gaps; skills development in the supply chain; and demonstration of continuous improvement in skills development.

The Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership was impressed with the way Lanes gathers data about women and people from ethnic minorities to ensure fair access to skills training, its active promotion of opportunities through jobs fairs in schools and colleges, partnership working with the prison service, and an “excellent” continuous improvement plan.

Lanes is also a strong supporter of the Women’s Utilities Network that connects women in the utilities industries and the Kickstart Scheme to create jobs for 16-24-year-olds relying on Universal Credit.

Lanes provides a wide range of services for Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company. They include: reactive sewer unblocking; planned sewer cleaning; wastewater asset surveying; sewer performance monitoring; sewer lining; tankering; wet well cleaning; and sewage treatment works tank cleaning.

It is forecast that 221,000 skilled jobs will need to be filled across the energy and utility industries by 2027, with 100,000 people set to retire by then, 90,000 people moving to new jobs and 31,000 new jobs created.

Failure to close this skills gap will lead to extra costs, delays in urgent work programmes, reduced work quality and stifling of innovation, the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership warns.