INDUSTRY OPINION FANS
UK faces critical A/C skills gap as overheating risk rises
"Being an
HVAC engineer is such a cool career, and is AI resistant, but as an industry we all need to pull together to tell this to
young people."
The UK will not be able to stop the majority of its homes and infrastructure from overheating by 2050, unless something is done to address the skills gap in its air conditioning industry. That’s the view of Chris White – Head of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration at Lawton Tubes.
T
he new Climate Change Committee Report claims that by 2050, 92% of homes are likely to overheat. The same report has also recommended making air conditioning
mandatory by 2035 in high-risk environments such as hospitals and care homes, extending it to schools by 2050. Although a fi gure on the air conditioning engineer shortage is unknown, the UK needs to recruit an extra 20,000 skilled
tradespeople a year over the next fi ve years to meet demand - which includes air conditioning engineers, according to the CITB.
Last summer, Lawton Tubes saw order volumes for copper tube and fi ttings from the A/C sector soar by 40% between June and August, compared to the winter – and is anticipating similar levels of business this year. For decades Britain’s homes were designed to keep heat
in. Now we’re entering a period where millions of properties will struggle to keep heat out unless there is a step change in how the next generation of air conditioning engineers are recruited.
The lead time to source an engineer just for a repair is at least two months during the summer, so if there is sudden investment in the air conditioning industry off the back of this report’s fi ndings, it needs to start with recruiting and training the next generation.
Championing the next generation Lawton Tubes, a family business, is taking steps itself to try and promote careers in air conditioning via its Lawton Next Gen initiative – which includes videos spotlighting the types of tasks involved in the air conditioning trade. Being an HVAC engineer is such a cool career, and is AI
resistant, but as an industry we all need to pull together to tell this to young people. We are trying to do our bit on social media with show-to and top tips videos, and by going to school careers fairs to talk to students, parents and career advisers, and we’d urge others to join us and follow in our footsteps. But if nothing changes and the status quo remains, then I
am afraid eff orts to prevent the majority of UK homes from overheating will simply become a pipe dream.
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www.acr-news.com • July 2026 15
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