Brits are set to swelter once again as the UK faces yet another heatwave – but this time, the real heat is being felt by an overstretched air conditioning industry grappling with a severe shortage of engineers.
Current lead times to repair broken air conditioning units have soared to as much as two months, compared to an average of just 14 days in previous years. The increase comes as demand continues to rise, particularly in the residential sector.
As the UK’s largest supplier of copper tubing products, Lawton Tubes supports the nation’s air conditioning industry with enough copper tube each year to stretch the length of the UK 20 times. We work closely with firms such as HVAC UK and TCM Services, who have confirmed they’re seeing repair and installation waiting times of up to eight weeks.
According to Robert Lawton, Director at Lawton Tubes, the industry is at a crossroads.
“Many of the air conditioning engineers we speak to say demand is being driven by two key factors,” said Lawton. “There’s been a sharp rise in the popularity of home air conditioning since the pandemic, with more people working remotely – and we’re also facing a chronic shortage of skilled engineers to meet this demand.”
The situation is being made worse by the frequency of heatwaves in recent years – something Lawton sees as a warning sign.
“Unless we shake up the way we attract and train the next generation of AC engineers, the waiting lists for installations and repairs will only grow,” he said. “It’s an issue the industry needs to tackle urgently as the planet continues to warm.”
The rise in demand is supported by a recent academic report which found that 19% of UK homes had air conditioning in 2022, up from just 3% in 2011.
Although there’s no official figure on the scale of the engineer shortage, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has stated that the UK needs to recruit an additional 20,000 skilled tradespeople each year over the next five years to meet demand – a target that includes air conditioning engineers.
Lawton believes more needs to be done to position air conditioning as a future-proof career.
“There simply aren’t enough people thinking about how to make this a ‘cool career’ for young people,” he said. “When I visit colleges to speak to air conditioning students, most say they’re only there because a family member or friend was in the trade. Very few had it presented as a viable career option at school or through social media – two areas where we have a huge opportunity to inspire new talent.”
At Lawton Tubes, we’re proud to supply the materials that power the UK’s cooling systems – but unless investment is made in attracting and training the workforce behind them, the industry may struggle to keep pace with rising temperatures and rising demand.
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