EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

CHRIS COWARD , HEAD OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT BUSINESS CRITICAL SOLUTIONS ( BCS )

part from the obvious

In fact , the continuing fight for a limited talent pool is set to get worse and there are real concerns that it will impact the sector ’ s ability to deliver the increasing demand driven in part by changes brought about by the pandemic .

The skills shortage in the industry has been an issue for over a decade with the financial crash in 2008 leading to a lost generation of technical engineers and construction professionals which has been slow to recover . In fact , it has never recovered . Recently , there have been some promising industry initiatives , but many have been put on hold due to the pandemic . Ongoing uncertainty around this year ’ s A-level results , challenges for first-year university students and a decision by many organisations that taking on graduate trainees and / or apprentices is just not practical has effectively put us back to square one and these decisions will severely impact the future . Despite the uncertainty , at BCS , we have forged ahead with our graduate and apprenticeship programme regardless .

Given the large numbers of people that have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic , is there a case for government-supported on-the-job retraining for those affected to enter sectors like ours where skills are required ? Surely this would be a win-win situation ? Another suggestion might be to enable university students to fast-track their degrees . I ’ m sure some students would choose this approach and it could also result in cheaper fees .

The uncertainty around Brexit has , at the very least , been unhelpful for the data centre sector and regardless of whether we have a ‘ no deal ’ or ‘ some kind of a deal ’, there are likely to be challenges ahead . Will there be an increase in costs and longer lead in times for organisations purchasing equipment from mainland Europe ? Probably . Will this lead to a move towards the UK becoming more self-sufficient and onshoring more of its manufacturing ? I hope so .

It is also likely that the UK will need to consider offering tax incentives for data centre operators , much like they have in Ireland . This will bring with it a whole new list of challenges around the UK ’ s lack of a holistic approach to power supply , planning and its infrastructure .

Finally , we may also need to factor in the possibility of a no-deal Brexit and the resulting threat to the Good Friday Agreement – what might that mean in terms of support from the newly elected American President , Joe Biden , who has Irish heritage , and any trade deal with the US ?

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