Britain must work hard to develop its workforce in both nuclear and renewables, a BIS minister said today.

Mark Prisk, the Business and Enterprise Minister said this would be vital if Britain is to compete on a global level. Appprenticeships will play a key role in “getting the skills right”, he said.

Mr Prisk told ELN: “The apprenticeship programme – which I think had a record year last year – is crucial because as we develop in renewables or in nuclear we need to make sure we’ve got the people with the right skills. That’s why apprenticeships are so important.”

He suggested there’s “a substantial amount of retraining” to make sure there are enough engineers in the UK’s energy sector.

“Inevitably of course the renewables is a new industry so there are new skills to learn. Of course with nuclear there’s been a long hiatus in the development of skills in the UK. We need to make sure we get those back in,” he added.