With the aim of re-enforcing its commitment to the next generation of HVAC engineers, Baxi has announced a 4-year principal Sponsorship of World Skills UK. The move builds on the company’s existing partnership with not-for-profit organisation Primary Engineer to bring STEM into the classroom and inspire the next generation of engineers.
World Skills’ mission is to use international best practice to raise standards in apprenticeships and technical education to enable more young people and employers to succeed. Baxi’s UK sponsorship is funded by the BDR Thermea Foundation, the owner of Baxi’s parent company BDR Thermea Group, and aligns with the Foundation’s long term commitment to World Skills in the Netherlands going back over 20 years.
The BDR Thermea Foundation’s Robert van Roijen explains why it’s the right time to expand the partnership to the UK: “The UK is on a clear pathway to decarbonise homes and buildings – of which heating and hot water provision makes a significant contribution. That means new technologies and new skills will be required to replace traditional gas boilers with clean heat solutions, like heat pumps, hybrid systems or heat networks making use of waste heat from industrial processes. Supporting the development of skills and ensuring the right HVAC workforce in the future all contributes to an acceleration of the energy transition, which is the main goal of the Foundation.”
The full partnership will come into force in 2026, but Baxi is already behind this year’s World-Skills Competition, billed as The Olympics of the Skills World. This year, over 400 talented apprentices and students have advanced to the World Skills National Finals in South Wales from 25-28 November.
Ian Trott, Baxi’s Head of UK Training Solutions, comments: “We are privileged to have this opportunity to help shape the UK’s future workforce, supporting excellence in vocational skills, particularly in the HVAC sector. Our role is to make sure everyone has access to reliable, affordable and sustainable heating and hot water, which means we have to invest today to create and embed the skills needed in our decarbonised future.”
Further information on Baxi’s training courses can be found here
