HEATING & PLUMBING
H
eating and hot water solutions supplier Baxi, part of the BDR Thermea, has opened its new 10,000 sqft Solutions Academy at its Warwick HQ, increasing its annual installer training capacity on the site from 600 delegates in 2023 to 2000 in 2025. The Baxi training facility has a dedicated solutions training room, allowing installers to get hands on with Baxi’s complete residential and commercial product portfolio under one roof.
The new facility also includes a fully equipped digital studio to support Baxi’s new e-learning platform, to be launched later this year, which will give installers accessto live virtual training and pre-learning, as well create their own in house training resources. The purpose-built facility opened as the UK Public Accounts Committee reported its concerns that critical targets for heat decarbonisation will be missed, with a report from the consumer rights group, Which?, concluding that the successful decarbonisation of buildings will only be possible if professionals are equipped with the right skills. Baxi believes its role is to be part of the solution, by ensuring that installers are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to help customers decarbonise their heat and hot water. Plus, just as importantly, to inspire the next generation of installers to be part of the clean heat transition in the years ahead. “We want to establish a forum where we can give people the insight into every aspect of heat engines for the UK,” Ian Trott, head of training solutions says. “There are different constraints and different requirements that people are looking to meet, whether it be local authorities or New built house builders, whoever merchants are dealing with. Some people look at decarbonisation, some people are looking at cost efficiency, and those different solutions will have different places. This centre was designed so that we have multiple types of training here, including a range of different types of training for merchants.”
“When we bring merchants in, they usually don’t want full technical training, they want an overview of what products we have, and to
26
LET THE TRAINING TAKE THE STRAIN
As installers look to meet sustainability goals, how do merchants keep up with the products and processes at the forefront of sustainable heating? Oliver Stanley visits the Baxi training centre to find out.
selling, the more value they can add to that job.
“We try and get as many people in here as we can to educate them on the different types of products and the different offerings that we have. We’re trying to trying to make put ourselves out into the marketplace with a diverse portfolio. The more people we can get in, the better.
know what other products they interact with, including, not just our own, but other systems. “In this facility, we can bring merchants in to showcase how all of our solutions interact together, and how you can get the best value out a project, and also how they, more important in commercial, how they interact with things like BMS systems, and what products that will work best. The more the merchant knows about the products they’re
“The team will help tailor the training to them. We worked with one merchant for example, to produce online resources for the people who didn’t come to the centre. So, they had what we called ‘super users’ come in, receive full training, and then give everyone else an overview. These people went back to the merchants and supported their branches, so the knowledge trickled down from one person to the rest of the team.” Trott says that, longer term, the company will probably create an online offering for merchants and tailor that specifically. “We would do a generic package, and then, depending on the merchant’s needs, tailor that for them, so they could ship it out to their own teams. That’s something we’re looking at for next year,” he says.
Baxi is expanding its nationwide team of 10 expert trainers, operating out of our four wholly owned facilities and 13 satellite centers based in third party education facilities. It expects to have the capacity to physically train 10,000 installers a year by 2025, with an additional 5,000 installers benefiting annually through Baxi’s e-learning platform. BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net September 2025
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54
