UK water sector investment fuels major recruitment drive

Nick Elvin

Specialist recruiters look set to benefit from increased business opportunities offered by the £43 billion, five-year water sector investment programme which began this month.

That’s according to the publishers of a new report, The UK Water Sector – Complete AMP6 Contracts and Tier 1 Contractors 2015, which states that companies throughout the industry will ramp up recruitment as hundreds of new projects start to come onstream.

Companies throughout the supply chain – from the UK water companies and the major construction firms, and consultancies they work in partnership with, to a wide range of SMEs and other organisations – are actively looking for staff with the right skills and expertise to deliver a host of new schemes.

Elaine Coles, from the report’s publisher WaterBriefing, said: “The UK water sector is on a sustained search for the trained and skilled people they need to ensure the services they provide are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Engineers, automation and instrumentation specialists, business managers, customer-facing staff, energy experts, HR and health and safety professionals, environmental analysts, and chemists are just some of a whole host of disciplines in demand throughout the industry.”

According to Water UK, the body which represents all major UK water companies, the sector currently supports 127,000 jobs, including 4,000 construction jobs, 3,000 jobs in transport and 14,000 jobs in distribution.