Environmental Industries Commission shows positive signs!

We haven't even reached the end of January and there are already positive signs for our industry!

The Environmental Industries Commission(EIC) conducted a survey of over 100 environmental service firms at the beginning of the new year and found that one in three were expecting sales growth of between 11-20% over the next five years, despite the economic downturn.

This growth is to be seen mainly within the energy sector which is expected to become one of the largest markets for more than half of the respondents - mainly environmental consultants with a quarter technology providers.

There is evidence to support this at Allen & York as our Energy Team is constantly expanding, having already quadrupled to match the demand of the industry with the Governments targets – potentially creating 160,000 ‘green collar jobs’.

However, most respondents felt that the Government is not doing enough to help the sector and that this in turn is hindering the flow of investment into the industry.

What are your thoughts on this? Is it fair to suggest that there is inadequate enforcement of regulation? a lack of skills? weak legislative standards?

The above were most frequently identified as barriers to growth!

What actions could the Government take to help the environmental industry and encourage further investment?

In the news this week it was reported that the Government are searching for policies that will both provide jobs and meet the UK's climate change targets.

So far they have come up with increasing the UK's forest cover from 11% to 12%. By doing so, more C02 will be absorbed whilst increasing employment opportunities.

Individuals would be employed to look after the trees. Wood can then also be used to replace coal and gas therefore more wood-fuelled heating plants would need to be installed generating electricity and thousands of jobs. The UK could aim to install thousands of small-scale wood-burning (or, more likely, wood gasification) plants dotted around forested areas.

Is this really an option? What could be done to aid the economic climate now?

Happy New Year

Allen & York would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

2009 what will it hold for the world of recruitment?

With the economy in its' current state Allen & York are standing strong by continuing to expand and explore new and exciting areas.

The Engineering department has now grown with an increasing number of job vacancies, all of which are listed on the website.

An increased global focus has led to an expansion within the International team. Allen & York's specialisms - Environment, Engineering, Planning & Built Environment, Energy, Waste and Health & Safety - are now searching for the right candidates for the most suitable roles, globally!

As market leaders in our industry we can help you find a new career for a new start to a new year.

Please contact us through the website at http://www.allen-york.com/ or call on 0870 870 8986