In 2023, Manchester Athena (Athena) will be working with various social housing providers across Greater Manchester on a new retrofit project which is set to bring in over a thousand new jobs for local people.

The term retrofit, also known as ‘green skills,’ is the process of upgrading existing homes to make them more energy efficient. This usually involves installing better insulation, upgrading the building services, and introducing renewable energy and heat sources, such as solar panels and heat pumps.

Greater Manchester currently has over 1.2 million homes which contribute to around a quarter of the area’s carbon output each year.

The challenge of decarbonising homes is huge; however, it also presents a massive opportunity to develop skilled, well-paid careers that are in high demand.

New roles and opportunities expected to be available:

• Project Management
• Retrofit Assessors
• Retrofit Coordinators
• Customer services roles
• Apprenticeships
• Retrofit skilled construction workers

Nathan Jack, Business Growth Manager, commented:

“To put the demand for retrofit skills into perspective, there are currently 250,000 people working in construction where retrofit will come under. However, it is estimated that the UK will need circa 430,000 retrofitters to reach net zero by 2050!”

Nathan Jack, Business Growth Manager

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