It is thought that there is a very real risk of running so low on plumbers in the UK that the country could face the largest crisis they have seen in around 20 years. Warm.co.uk has said that the Government needs to do something in order to avoid drastic consequences.

The heating and boiler company has said that the known on effects for businesses and consumers in the UK could be very serious if the lack of plumbers available is not addresses. More needs to be done in order to encourage more people into this industry. The plumbing industry appears to be neglected in terms of work put into attracting and training new workers. Because of this and the related lack of plumbers entering the industry, there is a crisis looming.

It is thought that if this skills deficit continues on the same trajectory, there could be a time where, in larger cities, emergency call outs could take as long as 3 weeks to be solved. If situations like this begin to occur there could be a serious risk to health as well as putting businesses in danger. The increase of plumbing trainees needs to be addressed as a priority to avoid this rather bleak forecast.

It has been said by the heating and boiler company Warm.co.uk that it is not too late to address this issue however, the input required in order to make a big enough difference would need to be drastic and immediate. It has also been suggested that, in order to achieve the best results, a government-led solution would be most effective.

If no action is taken, there could be country-wide delays, even for emergency work. Due to the demand for plumbers, there could also be price inflation, with the few plumbers that are available charging what they wish for the work. This means that anyone who can’t afford the inflated prices are left in an even worse situation.

It is thought that offering incentives for school leavers, encouraging them to go straight into apprenticeships and training for the profession, would be a great solution to ensure that the skills crisis doesn’t get any worse. Warm.co.uk have also recommended a range of other actions that could be taken in order to avoid the problems that a skills crisis would entail.