The training centre team

Nu-Heat is pleased to announce that it has been shortlisted as a finalist for the coveted National Training Awards (NTA).

The National Training Awards celebrate organisations and individuals that demonstrate outstanding business and personal success through investment in training. They are open to individuals and to any organisation regardless of size or sector. Nu-Heat entered its purpose built renewables Training Centre into the competition under the Providing Education & Training category.

This award seeks to acknowledge and celebrate an education and training provider’s commitment to offering a quality training and development service to clients and showing how this is creating a positive impact and achieving client success – Nu-Heat will learn whether its entry has been successful on 15 October, 2009.

Nu-Heat Underfloor, Renewbles and Training

You may be more familiar with Nu-Heat as a supplier of low-carbon heating and hot water systems; however, in 2008 the company launched a national renewables training programme in association with the NICEIC, and now offers courses in the installation of renewable technologies as well as pre-requisite qualifications for heating engineers at its bespoke centre in Honiton, Devon.

Guy Metcalfe, Nu-Heat’s Training Centre Manager, comments:

"International targets on reductions in carbon emissions were agreed at Kyoto in 1997; the UK commitment is 12.5% reduction by 2012 but the goal is 20% by 2010 and 60% by 2050. Renewable technologies such as heat pumps will form a significant part of this reduction. Government grants towards the cost of installation are only available when both product and installer are registered under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and whilst there are now many products that comply, there are very few installers."

Nu-Heat collaborated with certification body NICEIC to create a heat pump installation course that could be approved, and therefore be acceptable to the MCS.

The resulting three-day heat pump course is delivered to a maximum of 12 candidates by Nu-Heat’s NICEIC accredited trainers at the West Country based facility. Two classroom sessions cover health and safety and technical heat pump information, assessed by multiple choice question papers. A day of practical training and assessment follows.

Successful candidates, all plumbing and heating professionals with minimum pre-requisite qualifications, can apply for membership of the NICEIC Competent Persons Scheme, and then for their own MCS number, allowing their customers to apply for government grant support.

Nu-Heat also runs NICEIC approved courses in underfloor heating and solar thermal installations that are now being rolled out to training centres across the UK. Up to March this year Nu-Heat has seen 72 external candidates pass the heat pump installation course, and 10 internal staff receive training appropriate to their roles.

One trainee was Francis Delaney; he says: “As a direct result of the training, I have employed two business partners and renamed the business Eco Heat Solutions. Training has given my company and, more importantly, prospective customers the confidence to invest in new technology.”

Nu-Heat will be attending the Award Ceremony at the Mariott Hotel in Bristol and hope to be bringing home a prize.

For more information about solar, underfloor heating, heat pumps or renewables training, please call Nu-Heat on 0800 731 1976.

	Published: 01/09/09
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