Timeline blog: 2008-2009 – goodbye Corgi, hello Smart Meters
24 May 2024
This is the third article looking back at LCL Award’s history. We see the recruitment of another long-standing and key member of staff, changes to the regulator of gas safety and the qualification framework, and ambitious Government targets set for the installation of smart metering as part of the UK’s commitment to de-carbonisation.
Steve Mulvany joined Logic Certification as Scheme Director in 2008. Previously working for CORGI, he had been Kevin’s inspector at Logic4training. Kevin knew that Steve’s knowledge would be invaluable to the company—it still is! He brought a wealth of experience that helped Logic Certification develop its ACS and OFTEC schemes, moving the company into the gas training sector, which to this day forms a significant part of the business.
Steve’s arrival coincided with Gas Safe replacing CORGI as the new gas registration body in Great Britain and the Isle of Man. Gas Safe took over on 1st April 2009, with Northern Island and Guernsey following in 2010.
One of Gas Safe’s first actions was to commission a major consultation document; the Gas Safe Enforcement Review. A considerable undertaking, work on this involved canvassing the opinions of more than 5,000 gas engineers, and a range of industry stakeholders including training providers, manufacturers, and charities. The Review’s aims were to improve arrangements and processes surrounding gas competence, including industry control of the ACS, and to formalise gas safety standards.
In the same year, changes proposed to the national qualification market and the introduction and development of the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) -designed to improve vocational qualifications for life-long learning - presented a challenge (and opportunity) for Logic Certification, inspiring the development of a range of new qualifications.
Time to get smart
In December 2009, the Department of Energy & Climate Change announced its Smart Meters Implementation Programme. The targets were ambitious, stating that by 2020, every home in Great Britain would have a smart meter and that around 12% of heat across all sectors would be generated by renewable sources. We’re all familiar with smart meters now, but back then, they were a novelty, and the scheme was described as:
“Arguably (the) biggest energy industry change programme since the changeover to North Sea Gas.”
The policy focused on introducing the necessary infrastructure, designing a market and establishing customer engagement, the functionality of the meters themselves, setting up a regulatory framework, and issues surrounding data protection and security.
Government figures state that the total number of smart meters installed in homes and small businesses across Great Britain by the end of December 2020 was 23.6 million, just over half the commitment made in 2009, which was for 47 million*.
LCL Awards prides itself on developing targeted qualifications to fulfil a need. In this case, it addressed the shortfall of qualified installers of smart meters. By 2015, LCL Awards had launched a Level 2 smart meter diploma covering both gas and electricity, plus the vitally important customer-facing skills needed at the time to help end users understand what was then a new technology. For more details, please click here.
*Source: Smart Meter Implementation launch presentation.
This is the third article looking back at LCL Award’s history. We see the recruitment of another long-standing and key member of staff, changes to the regulator of gas safety and the qualification framework, and ambitious Government targets set for the installation of smart metering as part of the UK’s commitment to de-carbonisation.
Steve Mulvany joined Logic Certification as Scheme Director in 2008. Previously working for CORGI, he had been Kevin’s inspector at Logic4training. Kevin knew that Steve’s knowledge would be invaluable to the company—it still is! He brought a wealth of experience that helped Logic Certification develop its ACS and OFTEC schemes, moving the company into the gas training sector, which to this day forms a significant part of the business.
Steve’s arrival coincided with Gas Safe replacing CORGI as the new gas registration body in Great Britain and the Isle of Man. Gas Safe took over on 1st April 2009, with Northern Island and Guernsey following in 2010.
One of Gas Safe’s first actions was to commission a major consultation document; the Gas Safe Enforcement Review. A considerable undertaking, work on this involved canvassing the opinions of more than 5,000 gas engineers, and a range of industry stakeholders including training providers, manufacturers, and charities. The Review’s aims were to improve arrangements and processes surrounding gas competence, including industry control of the ACS, and to formalise gas safety standards.
In the same year, changes proposed to the national qualification market and the introduction and development of the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) -designed to improve vocational qualifications for life-long learning - presented a challenge (and opportunity) for Logic Certification, inspiring the development of a range of new qualifications.
Time to get smart
In December 2009, the Department of Energy & Climate Change announced its Smart Meters Implementation Programme. The targets were ambitious, stating that by 2020, every home in Great Britain would have a smart meter and that around 12% of heat across all sectors would be generated by renewable sources. We’re all familiar with smart meters now, but back then, they were a novelty, and the scheme was described as:
“Arguably (the) biggest energy industry change programme since the changeover to North Sea Gas.”
The policy focused on introducing the necessary infrastructure, designing a market and establishing customer engagement, the functionality of the meters themselves, setting up a regulatory framework, and issues surrounding data protection and security.
Government figures state that the total number of smart meters installed in homes and small businesses across Great Britain by the end of December 2020 was 23.6 million, just over half the commitment made in 2009, which was for 47 million*.
LCL Awards prides itself on developing targeted qualifications to fulfil a need. In this case, it addressed the shortfall of qualified installers of smart meters. By 2015, LCL Awards had launched a Level 2 smart meter diploma covering both gas and electricity, plus the vitally important customer-facing skills needed at the time to help end users understand what was then a new technology. For more details, please click here.
*Source: Smart Meter Implementation launch presentation.