For 125 years ECA has supported its members in shaping the electrical landscape. Rob Shepherd spoke with its Managing Director, Andrew Eldred, about how ECA continues to lead by raising standards, driving innovation and helping to build a smarter, safer and more sustainable future.
Q: ECA was founded in 1901 during the early days of electrification, so how has its core mission of representing the interests of electrical contractors evolved over the last 125 years?
A: ECA exists for two linked reasons – to help our members build strong, successful businesses and to strengthen the electrotechnical industry as a whole. That has been true since 1901.
In practice, our role has expanded from representing contractors’ interests to providing the practical support firms need to professionalise and grow. This includes technical, commercial, human resources (HR) and safety advice, plus tools and a community that shares experience and solutions.
At industry level, ECA has helped create institutions that still shape standards, employment relations and training – starting with the forerunner of NICEIC (1923), then JIB (1967), JTL (1990), NET (1997) and TESP (2014). Each was built to solve real problems such as raising competence, improving apprenticeships and assessment, reducing disputes and strengthening the skills system. Our 125th anniversary programme will share more of these stories through 2026.
Q: What lessons from the ECA’s history are most relevant to today’s challenges?
A: First, everything starts with our members. The people running contracting businesses know the pressures, so they are the best guide to what support will make a practical difference.
That is why we launched the ECA Growth Hub in 2025. Members asked us for sector-specific business training. It now offers practical courses – finance, contracts, estimating and tendering, and HR – with new modules added regularly. Members receive an annual allowance, so in most cases the training is effectively free.
Second, we are stronger together. ECA has always campaigned for changes that benefit members and the wider industry. Most recently, sustained pressure from ECA and its members helped secure a public consultation on poor payment practices and the abuse of retentions, followed this year by the government’s strongest commitments yet to payment reform and ending retentions. This is an important step towards a fairer, more resilient sector.
Q: How critical is the electrical contracting sector in achieving Net Zero and are current policies sufficient to support the scale of change required?
A: It is fundamental. Achieving Net Zero depends heavily on electrification – of heat, transport and industry – and that requires competent electrical contractors at scale. In 2025, ECA published (with other energy stakeholders) Blueprint for Electrification: Delivering the UK’s Transition to Clean Power. Through public polling, this showed electricians are the most trusted advisers on clean energy technologies.
The report also set out a 10-point plan for government to deliver clean power. This included steps to incentivise firms to train more electricians, address unfair electricity pricing, make all new buildings ‘electric ready’, improve procurement and payment practices, and support UK manufacturing and consumer confidence.
Q: How can the sector better communicate its role in shaping a low carbon digital future?
A: By telling clearer, outcomes-led stories and backing them with evidence. ECA has done this through the Blueprint for Electrification and two multimedia series – Leading the Charge (2022) and Electrifying Our Future (2025). Members and partners set out the case for electrification not only as an emissions solution but as an essential precondition for economic growth, energy security and industrial renewal.
That kind of consistent messaging has helped raise the sector’s profile with politicians, officials and wider influencers. It is no accident that recent reports from Skills England and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero have for the first time recognised electricians as a key occupational group for economic development and the clean energy transition.
Q: What is the single biggest barrier to attracting and retaining talent in electrical contracting today?
A: The biggest barrier is not interest in the career – it is converting that interest into jobs and long-term progression. Too many people start electrical courses without an employer place and too few can bridge from education into paid, on the job training. This affects young starters, adult career changers and existing workers looking to upskill.
ECA’s latest Electrical Skills Index showed just 7,500 people in England starting an electrical apprenticeship with an employer, versus 26,000 enrolling on classroom based electrical courses without one. Fewer than one in five of those learners then go on to an apprenticeship.
Employers are central to closing that gap, so ECA is calling for a much more employer-led skills system, focused on employment outcomes. That includes strengthening employer voice and influence at every stage of the system, rebalancing skills funding away from classroom qualifications and towards employment outcomes, and reducing the costs of employing an apprentice or adult trainee, especially for SMEs. It also means restoring national funding for adult career changers and priority upskilling, while strengthening support for high quality training providers.
We are also helping members influence devolved skills decisions. Since late 2024, with partners including NICEIC, JIB and TESP, we have established eight Electrotechnical Training and Careers Alliances (ETCAs) to bring employers, education providers and regional bodies together to improve local skills outcomes.
Q: Do you welcome the government’s Future Homes Standard and are there any areas of it that could, and should, be improved upon?
A: Yes. We support the Future Homes Standard’s push for wider adoption of solar PV and heat pumps. It is a clear opportunity for ECA members to upskill and to use apprentices – who are already learning these and other emerging technologies – to deliver this work safely and at scale.
We also see the Future Homes Standard as a floor, not a ceiling. Developers and owners should design for whole life performance – safe, energy efficient homes that are ready for future technologies and upgrades, not just minimum compliance.
Q: What do you consider the most significant change introduced by Amendment 4 of BS 7671:2018 and why?
A: Amendment 4 includes several major changes, but the standout for me is the new chapter on stationary secondary batteries (electrical energy storage systems). This brings fast growing storage technology firmly into the electrical safety framework, giving contractors clearer requirements and supporting confidence in the UK’s clean energy transition.
Q: ECA has long championed technical standards and quality. How do you ensure consistency and trust in an industry facing cost pressures and tight project timelines?
A: We protect consistency and trust by focusing on competence and making standards usable. Under cost and time pressure, quality comes from clear expectations – and the support to get it right first time.
We work closely with standards setting bodies and other stakeholders to interpret requirements accurately, then translate them into clear, plain English guidance that members can apply in design and on-site. Through technical support and targeted education, we help members maintain compliance and deliver safe, reliable installations, while protecting their reputation and strengthening client confidence.
Q: As ECA marks its 125th anniversary, what do you think the electrical contracting industry will look like in 2050 and what must happen now to get there?
A: By 2050, electrical contracting will be centred on integrated, connected systems such as electrified heat and transport, on-site generation and storage, smart buildings and data driven maintenance. As complexity grows, electricians will be valued as system integrators and problem solvers as much as installers.
To get there, we must act now on three fronts. We must build the skills pipeline (apprenticeships, adult routes and upskilling), keep standards and guidance aligned with new technologies, and improve commercial practices (especially on payment and procurement), so good firms can invest and grow.
ECA is unique within the industry in that we will devote our energies on shaping that wider environment not just in one area, but across every dimension – technical, commercial, safety, training and employment – so members can deliver the transition with confidence.
Contributors
Rob Shepherd (author)
Rob is Consulting Editor for InstallerELECTRIC. He is a well-respected journalist with a strong history in the electrical sector.
