Employment Minister Welcomes Green Jobs In North-east

Employment Minister Tony McNulty today met new recruits at green support services provider eaga - and applauded the company for creating essential jobs in the region.

During his visit, Mr McNulty chatted to six of the 60 new starters recruited by eaga through a Local Employer Partnership with Jobcentre Plus in the past six months in a range of roles from customer service advisers to cavity wall and loft insulation installers. This has been achieved by matching jobseekers to the appropriate vacancies and using Jobcentre Plus interview facilities in Newcastle City Jobcentre.

Based in Newcastle, eaga has just appointed its 1,500th employee in the North-East.

With more than 4,500 staff in operations throughout the UK and bases in Ireland, India and Canada, eaga is building what it calls a green collar workforce for this rapidly developing sector.

Working with central and local government, energy suppliers, social housing groups and the general public, eaga installs energy efficiency solutions including insulation, central heating and clean technology such as solar heating.

Through the Government-funded Warm Front Scheme, for example, it has assisted almost 2 million households since 2000 making their homes warmer and more affordable to heat.

Mr McNulty said:

I am extremely impressed by the range of green jobs and skill levels on offer from eaga, from highly trained heating and electrical engineers to opportunities for jobseekers through the Local Employment Partnership with Jobcentre Plus.

In the current economic climate, which I know is affecting many in the North-East, it is crucial that we do everything we can to create new and sustainable jobs. The switch to a low and zero-carbon economy needed to combat global warming is a challenge but it is also a great growth opportunity which we should grasp with open hands and I am delighted that eaga is turning these opportunities into jobs.

Within a wider economic stimulus and social inclusion agenda the Government has recently increased funding on Warm Front by 174 million. It has also announced a further 560 million spend on the Carbon Emission Reduction Target (CERT) which requires energy suppliers to offer free or discounted insulation and other carbon-saving measures to their customers. Total spending on CERT to 2011 will now exceed 3 billion.

Paul Varley, eaga Divisional Managing Director, said:

This financial stimulus is helping households, including those in most need, make their homes more energy efficient, easier to heat and cut carbon emissions. At eaga we are ideally placed and have the experience and track record to recruit local people and provide them with what we refer to as the green-collar skills to do this important work.

Through its energy efficiency activities, eaga can typically cut annual carbon emissions from an average family home by more than a tonne and help them save hundreds of pounds a year on heating bills.