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UTILITY WEEK | 4TH - 10TH DECEMBER 2015 | 7 Interview N ick Ellins is not having an easy ride in his first few weeks as chief executive of Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills). He rejoined the utilities sector in November just aer the government announced funding cuts that place a question mark over how his new organ- isation will continue to deliver core services and value. The cuts in question came from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) as it prepared for the impact of the strategic spending review – the results of which were announced on 25 November, shortly aer our interview. Among other things, these cuts will withdraw the vast majority of government sup- port for industrial partnerships, eight sector-specific skills groups launched as part of the government's pol- icy to put employers at the heart of skills and training development. The Energy and Efficiency Industrial Partnership (EEIP) has 70 members comprising energy companies, utilities and suppliers. Since its launch in 2014 the EEIP has helped 1,400 young people begin careers in the energy sector through apprenticeships. Four hun- dred of those apprentices have enrolled on freshly launched "trailblazer" training programmes – tailor- made by employers, for employers via the industrial partnership. This work – and other products and services pro- vided by the EEIP such as talent banks, development schemes for NEETs (those not in education, employ- ment or training) and workforce planning tools – are important to a sector that faces major infrastructure transformation along with skills shortfalls, and where skills goalposts are constantly moving thanks to rapidly evolving technology and business models. EU Skills esti- mates that UK engineering employers as a whole need 1.8 million new technical staff by 2022 to replace retiring talent and deliver business plans. That means drawing in 182,000 new recruits each year. Currently the run is nearer 100,000. So it's not a pretty picture, but Ellins is optimistic about the outlook for continuing the good work of the EEIP, in spite of the sudden withdrawal of about a third of its funding. He accepts the change as "a reality of the business situation" and in the week aer our interview he is set to "do the rounds" with utility chief executives, explaining the new situation and pitching the business case for them to make up the funding shortfall. Early indications of executive willingness to do this is "heartening" says the infectiously enthusiastic Ellins – though he has no illusions about what a big ask it will be. "They are business people and, especially if you are working on an RPI-X model, every year they've got to take cost out. This will just be one more pressure." Utility Week meets the new EU Skills boss, unusually, at its own offices, which Ellins endearingly refers to as the Utility Week "Death Star" – an epithet which mis- leadingly flatters our scale. In truth it's more akin to a base for the Rebel Alliance. Before getting stuck into the vagaries of skills policy and funding changes, he talks earnestly, but without worthiness, about his passion for talent development, for nurturing the potential of young people and deliver- ing training for older workers to help extend and improve the quality of their careers. He says it's a passion that springs from his years working in industry where he learned "the value of hav- ing good people around you". His new role will allow him to focus on ensuring that more utility companies can enjoy this luxury, and the associated benefits it brings in performance, a prospect he says makes him eager to get out of bed in the mornings. Ellins joins EU Skills from the rail sector where he was policy director for the Rail Delivery Group and the Association of Train Operating Companies (see "Off the Rails", overleaf). Before this dip into rail, however, Ellins had already racked up 25 years' experience in the utilities sector – specifically water. He has twice been president of the Institute of Water, where he was responsible for launching the Rising Stars programme to celebrate high- achieving young employees. He was also deputy chief executive at the Consumer Council for Water between January 2008 and march 2011. As such, Ellins has a deep understanding of the par-