New Skills, Better Jobs: Report Reveals the Positive Impact of Hinkley Point C

New figures published in Hinkley Point C’s 2024 Socio-Economic Impact Report reveal the power of green investment to improve the lives and prospects of people and businesses locally, across Somerset and beyond. 

• More than 8,000 people have been trained in Hinkley Point C’s new Centres of Excellence
• Almost one third of those being trained today are from the most deprived areas of Britain
• 1,320 apprentices have been trained so far
• The area around Hinkley Point C has seen a 25% growth in younger people aged 25-39
• Productivity in the local town of Bridgwater is now 10% higher than surrounding towns

The report shows that construction of the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C is helping thousands of people to get new skills and higher paid jobs. The project is boosting the local economy and helping it beat the national trend of low growth, poor productivity and limited social mobility.

Figures show that almost a third of those trained in Hinkley Point C’s new “Centres of Excellence” for welding, electrical, mechanical and construction skills come from officially deprived areas1. The Centres, operated by the project’s key partner for skills, Bridgwater & Taunton College, are training workers for the next phase of the project and are part of a £24 million project investment into education and skills.

Most of the 8,000 trained come from across the South-West of England and South Wales from places ranging from Minehead and Burnham-On-Sea to Port-Talbot and Pontypridd2.  The centres will offer 30,000 places over their lifetimes, including 4,500 places in the next 12 months. The project has also trained 1,320 apprentices so far in a wide range of skills including hospitality, accountancy, project management and surveying.

Hinkley Point C is a catalyst for long-term growth, leaving a legacy of a more skilled and productive workforce, that gives Somerset’s economy a competitive edge. The station itself will provide 900 permanent jobs for at least 60 years. The Sedgemoor area is seeing a growth in the number of small and medium sized companies that is ten times higher than anywhere else in the South West with ten new companies employing 250-500 people since 20113.  £5.3 billion has now been spent directly with businesses across the region. Bridgwater’s productivity is now 10% higher than the surrounding towns4.
 

1 More than 8,000 trained includes the 7,885 trained in the Centres of Excellence (Welding, Mechanical, Electrical and Construction Skills) and 1,307 currently in training. Deprivation defined by UK Government Indices of Multiple Deprivation – Source: English indices of deprivation 2019: mapping resources - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
2 7,885 trained already, 1,300 in training now
3 Source: UK business; activity, size and location - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
4 Source: UK GVA and productivity estimates for other geographies – ONS