Delegates at the first-ever Electric Revolution Skills Hub (ERS Hub) Conference at the ICC in Birmingham heard how skills and training people are the two biggest barriers to ensuring the country leads the way in the global electrification race.

Leaders from the sector believe if action is taken now the country can still become a hotbed for the production and development of power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD), generating more than £12bn of domestic revenue by 2025.

Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, maxon, Hewland and an army of SMEs are already backing the ERS Hub’s introduction.

“Government has committed £500m to support 169,000 jobs in zero emission vehicles and this is just the tip of the iceberg… electrification touches many industries, including aerospace, agriculture, energy and marine,” explained Deepak Farmah, commercial director of the ERS Hub. 

The ERS Hub, which is being delivered by Coventry University and funded in partnership with UKRI and Innovate UK, will host the industry’s first jobs board purely for electrification, providing a constantly updated list of available positions, the skills required for those roles and average renumeration.

The platform also supports academia and training providers by working with them to promote and encourage students to consider a career in this field and, importantly, connect with industry.

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