MCS attends the Heat Pump Summit 2024

Dan White, Grace Roberts, Ian Rippin and Lucy McKenzie outside the Blavatnik School of Government.

On Wednesday 10 April, MCS headed down to Oxford to attend the first ever Heat Pump Summit, at The Blavatnik School of Government. Bringing together leaders from across the industry, the Heat Pump Summit is a high-level forum, in support of the progression of the heat pump industry. Achieving this through addressing strategic narratives in the sector and delivering on commercial opportunities.

From the Opening Keynote from Dan Rosenfield, Managing Director, New Business and Net Zero at Centrica, on ‘Charting the path to Net Zero’ and a special address from Lord Callanan on heat pumps being the future of home heating, to Matt Isherwood, Service Operations Director at Aira, closing the day with ‘Lessons from Sweden’, the Heat Pump Summit had a jam-packed agenda rich in knowledge and insight from heat pump industry professionals.

Our CEO, Ian Rippin, joined a panel hosted by Vaillant on ‘Closing the skills gap: bridging the training need for heat pumps’. On this panel alongside Ian, was:

  • Mark Wilkins, Technologies and Training Director at Vaillant (Moderator & Keynote)
  • Charlotte Lee, Chief Executive at the Heat Pump Association
  • Lee Tilbury, Managing Director at Neater Heat

In its mission to reach net zero by 2050, the Government has set targets to install 600,000 heat pumps across the UK a year by 2028. The panel discussed the current workforce challenges, and how they are taking steps to overcome the skills shortage.

It was exciting to be able to share more about the Low Carbon Heating Technician Apprenticeship with the audience, which MCS supported the launch of along with ifATE and a trailblazer group of low carbon heating installers. Vaillant have helped support Derby College, in being the first to enroll students on to the apprenticeship.

The summit was a great opportunity to meet contractors, collaborate with strategic industry partners and learn about the challenges and opportunities within the heat pump sector. We look forward to next year!

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