BY Sam Walker | Wednesday 28 May 2025
Ideal Heating has received close to £1m in funding to extend the training it provides to support the transition from boilers to heat pumps.
The Skills Bootcamp funding will enable Ideal Heating to deliver additional courses to installers through its Expert Academy training arm.
The funding, allocated by Hull City Council, will also enhance Hull-based Ideal Heating’s bespoke system design service, as it helps new-build developers make a successful transition to heat pumps.
Heat pump system design is far more complex than the installation of gas boilers. For example, a heat pump installed in southern England will be specified and commissioned differently to one in Scotland, with climate and the surrounding environment both important factors to consider.
Designing, specifying and commissioning heat pumps correctly is also critical to ensure they perform in the most efficient way possible. The new heat pump system design training will ensure Ideal Heating continues to offer an industry-leading service to developers.
Initially, 20 Ideal Heating colleagues will undertake heat pump system design training, as the company continues to lead the UK heating industry’s drive to decarbonise and accelerate the adoption of heat pumps.
Ideal Heating’s Training and Design Services Director, Andrew Johnson, said: “We’re committed to supporting installers and developers to thrive in the growing heat pumps market.
“This Skills Bootcamp funding will enable us to re-train more installers to work with heat pumps and also enhance our heat pump system design capabilities.
“It will support our work to upskill heating engineers and to provide a comprehensive service to developers, enabling them to make a successful switch to low-carbon solutions.”
The new Skills Bootcamp funding continues a successful relationship between Ideal Heating and Hull City Council.
Skills Bootcamp funding has previously supported Ideal Heating’s Expert Academy training arm in its mission to retrain thousands of installers to work with heat pumps.
Expert Academy's Heat Pump Skills Bootcamps received strong recognition following an Ofsted inspection late last year. The Ofsted inspection report highlighted Expert Academy’s excellence in delivering comprehensive heat pump installation training and preparing installers to meet the growing demand for renewable heating solutions.
Expert Academy trained around 3,000 installers through in-person courses in 2024 alone and expanded its UK footprint to 30 training facilities during the year.
This in-person provision is also supported by Expert Academy On Demand, Ideal Heating’s interactive, digital learning platform, which enables installers to access training anytime, anywhere.
Skills Bootcamp funding is allocated to local authorities from the Department for Education, to help bridge regional skills gaps, boost productivity and drive growth.
In March, Hull City Council received its highest ever amount of Skills Bootcamp funding, with £10m available in the 2025-26 financial year for businesses to deliver training to upskill existing, new or prospective staff.
Cllr Linda Tock, Portfolio Holder for Hull Training at Hull City Council, said: “This allocation of Skills Bootcamp funding will help to extend the council’s good working relationship with Ideal Heating.
“We have already seen how successful Ideal Heating has been to retrain thousands of installers and it is pleasing that the council has been able to support it further.
“Ideal Heating is a great example of why the Skills Bootcamps Hull and East Yorkshire scheme has been so successful and long may it continue.”
Through its in-house Centres of Excellence in Hull and Leeds, Ideal Heating supports developers at every stage of the process – from design, drawings and specification through to installation and maintenance.
Now, Ideal Heating is taking its design service to a new level, as it plays a leading role in supporting developers to adopt heat pumps.
Ideal Heating plans to start delivering the heat pump system design training to its own team members from this summer, with the aim for this to be completed by later in the year.
Once its own teams have been trained, Ideal Heating plans to offer courses in heat pump system design as part of its extensive external training provision.
