United Living Group has taken control of a company that provides training courses on heat pumps, solar PV, battery storage, solar thermal, biomass, EV charging and energy efficiency measures, as well as bespoke training programmes for clients.
As well as taking a majority stake in GTEC Training – which is based in Hawes, in Wensleydale – it has also acquired sister company Thormer Solutions Limited, which like GTEC Training was set up and owned by managing director Griff Thomas. Thormer is the developer of Heatly, a digital app that makes heat pump system design, surveying and installation easier.
In the last four years, GTEC has delivered more than £3m of training places through various government schemes and expanded its geographic coverage from a single site in Hawes to 19 locations across the UK.
GTEC will continue to operate as a standalone, business delivering training to the wider market and will also support United Living’s group-wide training requirement and those of its customers.
United Living Group chairman and chief executive Neil Armstrong said: “In line with our commitment to provide high quality, technology-enabled services and to expand our highly skilled workforce, we are pleased to announce the acquisition of a majority stake in GTEC Training and Thormer Solutions.
“This acquisition will help us to address one of the key challenges facing us, our clients and industry as a whole; which is to bridge the skills gap and expand workforce capability and capacity.
“The Heatly app fits perfectly with our strategy to incorporate innovative, leading-edge technology into our service offering in order to help our clients optimise and decarbonise their business operations and assets.”
Griff Thomas, managing director of GTEC Training and Thormer Solutions, said: “Joining the United Living Group is the ideal fit for GTEC and we are excited about the opportunities and growth this investment will bring. Like us, United Living is committed to promoting and contributing to a sustainable future, and through their support we can bring our industry-leading training to a wider audience, as well as directly supporting United Living’s training needs and those of its customers.
“Heatly is set to be a real game-changer for the heat pump sector, removing some of the barriers to takeup and improving outcomes for installers and their customers. The investment brought by United Living will accelerate our market deployment and make Heatly the go-to digital solution for wide-scale heat pump deployment.
“With Heatly’s cutting-edge building scanning techniques and United Living’s reach into other related sectors, heat pumps are just the beginning.”
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