Modern Building Services

6 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES MAY 2023 INDUSTRY NEWS Modern Building Services are proud to continue our sponsorship of the CSA Awards SAVE THE DATE: Thursday 5th October 2023, The Guoman Tower Hotel, London. The Commissioning Specialists Association takes a great deal of pride in bringing together the industry each year, to celebrate achievements across the sector. Since launching its industry-wide awards programme back in 2015, the CSA Awards Ceremony has become a significant celebration where talent, drive, determination and contribution to the industry is recognised. Nominations are open now and close on the 14 th July, it’s your chance to prove you’re at the top of your game! https://www.csa-awards.co.uk/categories Employers urged to take advantage of T Level funding boost The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has welcomed a £12million injection of government funding to increase the uptake of T Levels including grants of up to £25,000 for employers who take students onwork placements. The Association said this was an opportunity for engineering firms to support future generations of skilled workers, boost their own in-house expertise, and promote career opportunities in the built environment sector. The funding is the Department of Education’s latest attempt to increase the number and quality of placements that form a central part of T Levels. Employers are being offered the money to cover “legitimate costs” for any placements that start between April 1 this year and March 31, 2024. Costs can include administration, equipment linked to the placement, transport, insurance, and training for existing staff. Colleges and other T Level providers will make the payments to employers and the money does not have to be repaid even if the course ends prematurely or the student drops out. Employers are not required to provide evidence to support claims, but the Department said it would conduct random spot checks on providers and employers to ensure the money was being properly allocated. “T Levels are a crucial part of the government’s strategy to grow the number of young people on a path towards employment in technical professions like building engineering,” said BESA’s head of training and skills Helen Yeulet. The Building Services Engineering (BSE) T Level is designed to help students develop an understanding of career options so more school leavers will be encouraged directly into building services apprenticeships. BESA believes that the work placements are an ideal way to introduce young people to the industry in a ‘live’ environment ensuring employers can draw from a pool of potential new entrants who are more likely to complete their training. However, research carried out last year found that almost 75% of employers had little or no knowledge of T Levels. Just 843 work placements were supported out of a target of more than 30,000 from the last funding round when employers were only being offered £1,000 towards their costs. www.gov.uk/government/publications Pump, Valve and Compressor Sectors come together for second Joint Congress Europump (the European Pump Association) is pleased to announce that for the second year running it is partnering with CEIR (the European Valve Association) and Pneurop (the European Compressed Air Association) to stage their respective Annual Meetings. Hosted by Evolis, this year’s event will be held in Marseille in the South of France, at the fabulous Hotel nhow from 31st May – 2nd June, during which the three organisations will also deliver a Joint Conference. In support of the current EU legislative agenda, as well as some broader topic areas, Europump, CEIR and Pneurop have again agreed to gather for a Joint Conference to discuss the key initiatives that are of common interest. This shared meeting will be held on the afternoon of Thursday 1st June, and will cover several agenda points, including: • Opportunities in the hydrogen value chain, • Access to energy at a reasonable price, • The new water economy, • Nuclear’s future. The event is open to all members of the three organisations as well as those of their respective National Associations, and with an extensive programme of talks, presentations, and social gatherings, it provides a unique opportunity for these three key sectors to come together and develop their common goals. www.evolis.org/joint-congress-2023 Ideal Heating unveils plans for industry-leading R&D centre Ideal Heating has submitted plans for a new £10m research and development facility at its UK headquarters in Hull. The UK Technology Centre will play a key role in developing and testing low carbon heating solutions, such as air source heat pumps. The proposed facility forms part of awider £60m investment programme by Ideal Heating across the Hull site to increasemanufacturing and distribution capacity and accommodate heat pump production andwarehousing. Ideal Heating is also investing in a newNational Training & Technology Centre at Bridgehead business park in East Yorkshire, with a focus on low-carbon heating and up-skilling thousands of boiler installers across the UK to supply heat pumps to customers.