Gas and electricity have long been the driving force of the UK; powered by coal, oil, gas, wind, solar and hydro-power, the energy sector underpins the entire ecosystem on which Britain’s economy has blossomed.

As a sector that contributes a staggering £28 billion to Britain’s economy and Government pressure to ‘go green’ is higher than ever; the EU has set a target for the UK to increase its share of renewable energy. In order to meet the UK’s renewable energy targets, the government needs to pour approximately £3bn into the sector every year.

The Energy sector in the UK accounts for 3.2% of GDP with over 179,000 people directly employed (6.2% of industrial employment) and more indirectly, an estimated 126,700.

In light of the rapidly shifting industry, the UK energy sector is thirsty for talent that can put investment plans into action, shaping the future of energy generation, distribution, supply and regulation for generations to come.

Nearly 5.7 million employees work in engineering enterprises in the UK, representing just over 19% of total UK employment in all registered enterprises. As a proportion of total employment, this has remained relatively consistent for the last three years. It has been forecast that engineering employers will need to recruit 265,000 skilled entrants annually to meet demand for engineering enterprises through to 2024, this figure has increased drastically from last year’s forecast of 182,000.

The UK’s advanced engineering industry has thousands of supply chain companies to deliver the precision products and specialist services needed. There is also a thriving manufacturing industry, with investment in automation and technological advances potentially adding £275bn to the national economy each year.

New technologies are set to transform productivity in the next few years, a process referred to as the 4th Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0. The World Economic Forum considers the UK a leading country for Industry 4.0 – ranked 2nd for technology and innovation, and 1st for available financing.

The embracing of technology within this sector extends to systems that can manage large scale flexible workforce's, which serve to provide the control and efficiency needed to provide an effective solution to labour management.

The UK rail industry accounts for expenditure of around £12 billion per year and provides more than 200,000 UK jobs, with around 40 percent of those in the supply chain.

Many major new rail investment projects amounting to billions of pounds are underway or planned, including Crossrail, Thameslink, Intercity Express Programme, Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvements Programme (EGIP) and High Speed 2.

At the heart of today’s UK rail success story lies a strong partnership between the public and private sector. This partnership generates passenger growth by providing commercial expertise in market growth and an industry focused on attracting more rail users.

Safety is at the forefront of everything that is done within the rail industry. Reliability is also key as the more reliable the railway is, the more people will want to use it. Having a robust process and system to manage rail workers is key to managing safety and compliance, whilst providing control over spend to ensure projects are delivered on time, and within budget.