Ideal Heating has strengthened its experienced Expert Academy training team with the appointment of a new Technical Training Manager.
Zoe Sims has been with Ideal Heating for 15 years, having joined the organisation’s technical team in 2009.
A decade and a half later – and after many years as a Gas Engineer – Zoe has joined Ideal’s Expert Academy training arm, becoming the first female trainer in the business.
Zoe bolsters a vastly experienced training team at Ideal Heating, with more than 300 combined years of expertise in the heating industry.
Working as a Technical Training Manager, Zoe will help equip installers with the essential skills and knowledge required to work with both current and future heating solutions.
Zoe said: “To be able to take my vast experience working as a gas engineer and put it towards helping others develop is something I find incredibly fulfilling.
“Training has always been of interest to me so I am delighted to have joined Expert Academy.
“When I started at Ideal Heating 15 years ago on the technical team, I never could have imagined I’d be here helping to train people all these years later. I’m really proud, especially as I still find myself as one of the few women working in the industry.”
According to British Gas, just 0.2 per cent of gas engineers working in the UK in 2023 were women.
For many, the prospect of entering a male-dominated industry can be a daunting prospect.
Zoe credits her dad as her early inspiration.
She said: “While working in the technical team at Ideal Heating, advising installers and customers on our products, I realised I wanted to become a Gas Engineer myself.
“I decided to pursue the necessary training independently, attending evening and weekend classes. My dad was already in the heating industry, and introduced me to a friend who helped me gain practice experience.
“His support and guidance in those early days gave me the confidence to pursue this career.”
Zoe decided to transition to a role in Ideal Heating’s Quality and Reliability team when she became pregnant with her first child, as she felt it wasn’t wise to “continue clambering around in people’s lofts when carrying a baby”. Her day to day changed from servicing boilers to using data to monitor trends, analysing component failures, conducting root cause analysis, and understanding how models perform.
“Continue to work on boilers on the Quality and Reliability side meant that I didn’t lose the skills I’d gathered through my Gas Engineering career. If anything, I learnt things I didn’t already know.”
While on maternity leave after the birth of her second child, Zoe saw an opening for the Technical Training Manager position.
“It felt like the perfect opportunity to use my years of experience as a gas engineer to help upskill the next generation, especially at a time when training is more critical than ever,” she said.
With the UK Government setting a target of 600,000 heat pump installations annually by 2028, and upcoming regulations banning gas boilers in new homes from 2025 with a full ban by 2035, training installers in heat pump installations is vital for both Ideal Heating and the broader industry.
Andrew Johnson, Training Director at Ideal Heating, said having people like Zoe in the business to train both the current and next generation of installers in renewable energy solutions was crucial.
He said: “Zoe joins a team of experts that are helping to shape the future of our industry.
“From our flagship National Training and Technology Centre in Hessle, we can train up to 5,000 installers a year, covering everything from heat pumps and the thermodynamic cycle to specific product training, including our own Logic Air heat pump.
“Zoe and the team will ensure that installers are well-equipped to meet the Government’s ambitious goals and drive the low carbon heating transition.”
Zoe is passionate about using her experiences to encourage more women to consider careers in traditionally male-dominated roles.
“I’ve attended several Women in Manufacturing events with Ideal to inspire young women to explore the opportunities available in our industry,” she said.
“I understand why joining this field might seem daunting, but I reassure them that it’s a welcoming environment. The colleagues I work with are fantastic, and now more than ever, we need to attract more women into the industry.”
Ideal Heating’s Expert Academy has established itself as the heating industry’s premier training provider, offering an unparalleled combination of state-of-the-art facilities, experience and expertise.
With flagship training sites in Hessle and Dunstable, near Luton, Expert Academy also has a range of satellite training centres across the UK.
It means installers across the UK have convenient access to expert training provisions on their doorstep.
To find out more about Ideal’s Expert Academy, visit www.expert-academy.co.uk