Britain’s retrofit ambitions depend on building a workforce capable of delivering at scale, but meeting that challenge is about more than recruiting more people
Alex Fellowes-Freeman, partnerships manager at InstaGroup and chairperson of the National Home Decarbonisation Group’s (NHDG) Innovation Working Group, argues the sector needs to rethink how it develops, supports and retains its people, while becoming more open to skills and experience beyond retrofit.
Drawing on his own transition from a 20-year hospitality career, Alex explores why practical experience, clearer career pathways and greater certainty will be essential to building a retrofit workforce fit for the future.
When I moved into retrofit after 20 years working across restaurants, pubs and hotels, I received advice that has stayed with me: find a company you believe in rather than simply looking for a particular job. I was already familiar with InstaGroup and felt I could bring a different perspective to the business; I became the first senior employee at the company without a construction background. Four years on, that experience has changed how I think about the industry’s workforce challenge.
There is understandably a lot of focus on how many people retrofit will need; the scale of ambition demands it. The Warm Homes Plan commits £15bn of public investment to upgrade up to five million homes by 2030 and is expected to support up to 180,000 additional jobs across energy efficiency and clean heating.
At the same time, CITB estimates construction will need an average of 41,200 additional workers each year between 2026 and 2030, accounting for both growth and people leaving the industry.
However, the workforce challenge is about more than numbers. It is not simply a question of finding more skilled people. It is about creating an industry where people can enter, develop and build a long-term career.
The value of a different perspective
My hospitality background has probably influenced my approach more than anything else. The most valuable thing I brought with me was a strong focus on customer service, along with experience in people management, training, and team culture.
Retrofit rightly concentrates on installers, products, funding, compliance, and legal requirements, but ultimately, we work in people’s homes. The resident’s experience matters, whether the work is privately funded or supported through a government scheme.
A simple example I often think about: a customer can order a parcel and track it to within a metre of their front door, yet someone having retrofit work carried out can still struggle to know when an installer will arrive. For someone coming from hospitality, that feels like an obvious area to question.
This is one of the things people from outside retrofit can bring. They may not know more, but they may simply look at something the industry has become accustomed to and ask: why does it have to be this way?
That kind of questioning can be valuable in an industry undergoing significant change. It doesn’t replace technical expertise, but it can challenge assumptions and bring new ways of solving problems.
The Skills England Annual Skills Report 2026 highlights the importance of upskilling and reskilling throughout people’s careers, while identifying communication, problem solving and adaptability among the transferable skills employers value.
There is a natural tendency to recruit people who already understand retrofit. I understand why; the technical learning curve can be steep, and existing sector knowledge can help you learn quickly. But if retrofit is going to grow year on year, it cannot rely on the workforce and networks it already has.
Training is only part of the answer
Bringing different people into retrofit is only useful if we create an environment where they can succeed.
There is a lot of focus on qualifications and training – retrofit is a technical industry, and that demands high standards – but training alone will not solve the workforce challenge. People need practical experience.
I often compare it to university. You can learn the theory, understand the process and pass the assessment, but there is still a difference between knowing something and experiencing it in the real world.
That matters in retrofit because decisions in one part of a project can affect others. Without practical exposure, it is easier to miss those connections, which can lead to miscommunication, delays and weaker project outcomes.
That is why local apprenticeships and longer-term development play such an important role. Training commitments need to support people for long enough to develop properly, but short-term contracts and narrow local targets do not always align with the timescales needed to build a skilled workforce.
We also need to look after the people already working in retrofit. The frontline workforce can sometimes be forgotten when decisions are being made further up the chain. Workloads need to be balanced; people need to feel valued, and they need a clear sense of where a career can go.
Building a retrofit workforce for the long term
One thing that has surprised me since moving into retrofit is how much workforce planning depends on consistent work. I would not describe the challenge as simply a lack of skilled people. Highly capable surveyors, installers, and specialists exist across the sector, but waves of government funding can create peaks and troughs in workflow.
When schemes are promised and then changed or scrapped, the consequences go beyond the policy itself. They affect businesses, supply chains and the people trying to build careers in the industry.
I experienced some of those barriers myself. Procurement was a steep learning curve, even with years of business experience. For someone coming into retrofit with no construction background, there’s a significant amount to understand before they feel confident navigating the system.
We need clearer, more transparent structures around recruitment, skills, qualifications, and accountability. Quality assurance still matters, but the system should also be accessible to someone who has not spent years working within it.
I sometimes question why retrofit cannot offer the same straightforward clarity around competence and accountability that is expected in areas such as gas safety. The standards need to be robust enough to protect quality, but clear enough for residents and consumers to understand what is required, who is responsible and what protections are in place. Maintaining this consumer perspective is essential if the sector is going to broaden its horizons and keep every stakeholder aligned throughout the journey.
My own move from hospitality to InstaGroup has shown me that people do not necessarily need a career history in construction to make a valuable contribution. I brought 20 years of experience with me, but I also needed that opportunity to learn, adapt and understand a new industry.
That is the balance retrofit needs to find: develop the people already here while creating credible routes for new people to join them. The question is not simply how many people the sector needs, but whether it is creating an industry where those people can enter, develop and build a career.
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