The UK Utility industry is a vast sector that is divided into a variety of specialist industries: oil, gas, petroleum, coal, nuclear power renewable energy and the waste management and water industries. Some of these sub-divisions are comparatively large, such as the oil, gas and water sectors, whilst others such as the coal industry are relatively small. The petroleum industry, for example, comprises over 200 companies involved in the refinement, distribution and marketing of petroleum. Within this infrastructure, there are varying degrees of input, ranging from the large, multinational oil companies to small, countryside petrol stations.

The UK’s nuclear industry provides around 22% of the country’s electricity. Currently this sector employs around 50, 000 people, 15, 000 of whom operate and decommission power stations. With the rising demand for more ecologically-sound implementations, it has been estimated that a further 9,000 engineers and scientists will be required to continue this progress. Nuclear jobs in this industry can require a lot of travel, for example research scientists work in partnership with other scientists from across the globe to develop a power source that also has worldwide effects.

On a larger scale, the water industry currently employs around 160,000 people who help to collect, treat and distribute over 16 billion litres of water for domestic and commercial use. At the same time, they also collect around 10 billion litres of waste-water. As this sector continues to expand, there are many water jobs waiting to be filled, such as operational engineers, environmentalists, modelers and planners.

34% of all electricity generated in the UK comes from coal but, as fossil fuels decline, attention is turning to renewable energies such as solar, winder and water power. This sector is evolving in conjunction with the race to find better renewable energies; whilst it presently employs around 5,500 people, these figures are already on the increase as new resources are explored and discovered.

As the utility industry develops and grows, so too does the need for workers in all fields. There are gas jobs and oil jobs available in what are perceived to be self-sustaining industries. However, oil reserves are waning although the gas industry looks set to continue to expand well into the next century.

Jobs in these sectors and their sub-divisions are wide and varied, ranging from expert engineers such as research scientists and consultants to operational staff, such as engineers. Industries such as the oil industry require a further network of staff to deal with the marketing and selling of the product. These can encompass roles in human resources, IT and accountancy as well as the more traditional oil jobs, such as drilling.

Jobs such as drilling are likely to mean operating anti-social hours in remote areas, but most utility jobs tend to be on the mainland and in a head or regional office and enjoy much more regular hours. In addition, there are long careers to be had in the utilities industry; staff turnover is relatively low as jobs are adapted to meet political, environmental and legal demands, as well as advances in technology. The larger industries, such as petroleum and nuclear power are part of multinational companies and employees can be asked to travel quite frequently, depending on their roles. Smaller industries, such as coal and renewable energy, are usually UK-based; most of the UK’s oil comes from the North Sea and workers are based accordingly.

As demands for power increase and alternatives are being researched, the utilities industry is an ever-changing entity with no lack of jobs available for those wanting to help it adapt and evolve in the years to come.

Duncan freer - Director