The Future Skills Podcast

In this new installment of The Future Skills Podcast, we go a little more in depth into the background and journeys of our Tutors! This week Charlotte speaks with Carl, one of our Electrical and Dual Fuel tutors - they talk about where Carl started and how he got to where he is now. Carl's journey is inspirational and is definitely a route many starting out could follow. For someone who is still so young, Carl has come a long way and we thought he would make the perfect tutor to grab for the podcast to speak about his life!

In this weeks installment of The Future Skills Podcast, guest hosted by our very own Charlotte Yeoman, is recorded on location at Doncaster Cables - one of our new locations for our EV course. Charlotte is joined by Aaron Walstow, the Director and Works Manager of Doncaster Cables. We talk all things EV, find out more about Aarons background and go into more depth about Doncaster Cables, their location, our future EV courses being held there and talk about their own EV Ultra cable they've manufactured themselves.

In this weeks installment of The Future Skills Podcast, Dan is joined by Maria Fulluck from Merit Skills. Maria has worked in the industry for 8 years, latterly at a senior level with a major training provider directing and managing the winning, implementation and operation of many multi-million pound contracts for utility companies. Maria has managed the day to day operations of a large training business with particular focus towards the Water Industry clients and their needs. Dan speaks with Maria about how she got into the industry and the partnership with Short Term Group.

In this week's installment of The Future Skills Podcast, Dan is joined by Dave Marklew from Siemens. Dave has over forty years within the industry, they both discuss Smart Metering, Apprenticeships, challenges facing the industry and future skills required. 

Liam Walker from Intelligent Charging Solutions joins the podcast this week, Dan and Liam discuss all things EV, what's coming up in the sector this year, hints and tips for those looking to adopt an electric vehicle and Liam offers an insight into the ICS Electrical Vehicle charger.

In this Future Skills Best Bits Podcast, our very own Mariam Hussein and Katy Garside talk us through their own apprenticeship journeys as well as  what advice they would give to anyone who's considering becoming an apprentice within the SMART industry.

For the end part of our series, The Future Skills Podcast has decided to take out some best bits and gather them into question categories. In this episode, we listen in closer to some of the advice our guests have given to future/current engineers in the SMART industry.

In this week's instalment of the Future Skills Podcast, our very own Katy guest hosts with Dan Taylor on the other end of the mic! This time the tables have turned and it's Dan who's getting interrogated!

For the end part of our series, The Future Skills Podcast has decided to take out some best bits and gather them into question categories. In this episode, we dive deeper into the "Origin Stories" of some of our guests on our Podcasts.

For the end part of our series, The Future Skills Podcast has decided to take out some best bits and gather them into question categories. In this episode, we dive deeper into the "What advice would you give to your younger self?" question and highlight what everyone has covered in relation to this question!

Dan is joined by Scott Manson from Morrison Data Services in this latest episode of The Knowledge Hub. Scott is responsible for the Head of Technical Safety at MDS. Dan talks with Scott about how he got into the sector and where the training will be heading, also covering what's happening at MDS at the moment.

In a different spin to the podcast Dan is joined by Katy Garside and Mariam Hussain from Universal Skills Group, Dan, Katy and Mariam discuss USG's apprenticeship provision and their continuous improvement plans.

In this instalment of The Future Skills Podcast,  our very own Sharnie Rose talks with Stephanie Ward, a Female Electrician starting up in the industry. Sharnie and Stephanie talk through how she got into the industry and the path she's come down to get to where she is now.

Dan is joined by Paul Mumford from Search Energy in this latest episode of The Knowledge Hub. Paul is responsible for a large Smart Metering workforce and has worked in the energy sector for over 20 years, Dan discusses the opportunities within the Smart Metering industry, the new entrant training route and the progression routes Paul has seen so far with his team, plus further progression routes to come in the future.

In this instalment of The Future Skills podcast Mike Gadd from YESSS Electrical joins Dan Taylor to talk all things EV. They talk about the EV sector in general and all the changes to the Domestic Grant Funding coming in 2022.

In this instalment of The Future Skills Podcast, Michaela Wain from Design & Build and finalist of the Apprentice joins our very own Sharnie Rose. Michaela is an entrepreneur and runs several companies, one being a lead generation platform which give information for new and upcoming projects in the North West.  Sharnie talks with Michaela about her upbringing, businesses and about her passion for "women in construction". Sharnie herself has a background in construction now engineering and both share their thoughts on why women are not entering a male dominated industry and their thoughts on how they can.  *Disclaimer - this video does contain some colourful language*

In this instalment of the podcast Stephen Smith from EV Comply joins Dan, EV Comply offer a 'Business in a Box' solution for the EV industry and provide all of the support needed for installers and companies ensuring they are fully compliant with installations and government grant paperwork (OZEV). Dan also talks with Stephen about his background, how Stephen got into the Electrical industry and how his journey has taken him to CEO at EV-Comply.

In the third episode of the Future Skills Podcast podcast Dan is joined by James Naughton from OVO Energy. James is a senior manager at OVO Energy, with expertise in smart metering and electrical installations. Dan worked with James at British Gas in the Leeds Academy , the two of them have plenty to catch up on and will be discussing how James started in the industry, the changes they have seen and what the future holds.

In the second episode of 'The Future Skills Podcast', we celebrate 'International Women in Engineering day'. Delivery & IQA Manager Katy Garside leads a discussion on the topics surrounding women's opportunities in engineering, the progress that has been made and the changes that still need to be made to give more opportunities to women wanting to start a career within the engineering industry. Katy is joined by Mel from OVO who trained at Universal Skills in 2019 and is currently working as a Smart Metering Engineer and Rachel from Siemens who has just started her career as Smart Metering Apprentice whilst also taking on a degree. Listen to their stories as they discuss what drew them to engineering and the experiences that have shaped their careers. The statistics discussed come from an anonymous survey which was posted to LinkedIn.  

We hope you enjoy this edition of 'The Future Skills Podcast', if you do, make sure to subscribe for more content like this coming soon!

In the first episode of 'The Future Skills Podcast', centre Manager Dan Taylor is joined by founder and Director Danny Coleman. They discuss Danny's journey, which saw his experiences as a plasterer turned teacher, shape the way he saw the training world and ultimately lead to what Universal Skills Group is today.

A watershed moment for us, this is the trailer for our new Future Skills podcast. Follow and subscribe now to be updated with interviews and discussions about careers, apprenticeships and the energy industry including Smart Metering, Renewables and EV.