Centrica to open £35m net zero training academy in Leicestershire

Centrica is set to open a new £35m net zero training academy and energy transition lab in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, in May 2026. 

The site will train thousands of engineers every year in skills like installing heat pumps, EV chargers, solar panels and battery storage. 

The company, which owns British Gas, Hive and Bord Gais Energy, sees this as an investment in the skills of its 7,000 engineers and a step towards creating more green jobs in the UK and Ireland.

Chris O’Shea, CEO of Centrica, said: “We’re committed to hiring a new apprentice for every day of this decade and our new academy will help us meet that ambition whilst also supporting the drive to diversify the UK’s engineering workforce, and our research labs will drive the innovation necessary to make sure we deliver a just transition which leaves no-one behind.”

The academy will include a full-size eco house to show how the different skills of Centrica’s engineers come together to deliver future-ready homes. 

There will also be a net zero lab for testing heating technologies, a diagnostic and innovation lab for business support and tool development, a smart testing lab for smart meter technology, a controls lab for commercial energy systems, and a hive lab for developing and testing Hive Home products including EV chargers.

O’Shea added: “Creating the well paid, unionised jobs needed to drive the energy transition is one of the biggest tasks facing the energy industry today. 

“Our state of the art facility in Lutterworth will set a new benchmark for industry training, providing our engineers with the skills and confidence to deliver the first-class service our customers rightly expect and with more engineers trained in green skills, our energy transition will be more achievable.