5,500 energy sector jobs in East of England, says EY report

The energy sector in the East of England directly supported 5,500 jobs in 2014. Unlike other major industries, it is ‘a significant employer across all regions of the country’, according to Powering the UK, a new report by professional services firm EY for Energy UK.

 

The pattern of employment in the energy sector is ‘structurally different’ when compared to many other sectors, the report found, with just 15% of total direct energy sector jobs based in London and the South East.

The top UK regions were Scotland and the North West, where the industry directly supported 18,700 jobs. They were followed by the East Midlands, West Midlands and South East, which each had 14,300 jobs directly supported by the energy sector last year.

Energy firms contributed £83bn gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy and employed around 133,000 people in 2014, as well as supporting an additional 486,000 jobs elsewhere in the economy. One in every 48 jobs in the UK was related to energy.

Stuart Wilkinson, Partner at EY in Cambridge, said: “While a lot of other major sectors are concentrated in specific regions of the UK, the energy sector is truly national in the distribution of its companies and assets.

“Steady industry investment over recent years has been good news for jobs in the East of England, where there is a wide range of different strategically important energy infrastructure assets, as well as a strong sector skills base.

“The importance of the energy industry in driving the growth and prosperity of the UK economy can often be underestimated. The work of energy firms to generate, transport and supply energy is not only a key enabler of the activities of all homes and businesses across the country but also creates significant economic value in its own right.

“Whether investment continues to increase further towards a pathway consistent with meeting our energy objectives will depend to a large extent on the stability of the regulatory and policy landscape, as well as the ability of energy firms to attract and retain a highly skilled workforce that will allow them to continue the current transformation in the way that energy is generated and consumed.

“The recent announcements of Chinese participation in the Hinkley Point project and a biomass energy park in Holyhead are a tangible example of the scale of the investment needed, and the opportunity that exists to create economic value in the UK.

“As the energy industry appears to be a significant employer across all regions of the country, we hope to see more jobs secured in the East of England over the coming years.”

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Hannah Forrester
EY Media Relations
+44 (0)121 535 2997
+44 (0)7931 491 342
HForrester@uk.ey.com
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