BESA has welcomed the heating and hot water manufacturer Worcester Bosch as its latest affiliate member.
The company, which was founded by the late Cecil Duckworth in 1962, is one of the UK’s best known heating brands. It was a pioneer of combination boiler technology in the 1980s and a leader in the growth of the condensing boiler market in the 1990s.
It joined the Bosch Group in 1992 with Duckworth, who later owned Worcester Rugby Club, becoming president of the Bosch Heating Division in 1995.
The company has since developed a wide range of high efficiency heating products including the market leading Greenstar boiler range and is a major player in the burgeoning heat pump market. It is currently trialling hydrogen-ready boilers and is supporting growth in heat networks through its range of heat interface units (HIUs). Several of its products have successfully passed through BESA’s HIU test regime.
BESA and Worcester Bosch jointly developed a free online training programme to help upskill heating engineers to install heat pumps as both organisations recognised that the skills shortage was a major barrier to wider adoption of low carbon heating solutions.
Deepen
The programme, which is delivered through BESA’s Academy, has so far trained more than 1,000 installers since its launch in 2021. Both organisations have pledged to deepen their partnership to help the industry keep pace with rapidly developing government policy around decarbonisation of heat and to share technical resources.
Martyn Bridges, the company’s director of technical services, said Worcester Bosch was delighted to become an affiliate member of “such a respected and longstanding organisation”.
“We have collaborated on the very successful heat pump training course and been delighted at the take-up it has received. We will continue to play an active role within BESA.”
Pete Mills, commercial technical operations manager, added that the challenges the industry faces to meet net zero targets made it more important than ever to support trade associations.
“BESA became an important information channel through Covid and lockdown and has been at the forefront of navigating the industry through the challenges of Brexit, UKCA marking, the Building Safety Act and other industry changes,” said Mills, who is a member of BESA’s HIU Test Standard steering group.
“We have never seen so many government consultations, regulation changes and new standards and that is set to continue. Through my personal involvement with BESA, I have seen how it is helping to improve outcomes for consumers using heat networks.”
BESA’s head of engagement and innovation Jenny House said the partnership with Worcester Bosch was a perfect example of how a trade body and a manufacturer could pool resources for the greater good of the sector.
“We already have a highly productive working relationship with the company and the fact they have now agreed to become a member means we can achieve even more together. From training to sharing technical guidance to joint political lobbying – there is lots to aim for.”
Read the blog about the main barriers to decarbonisation of heat by Worcester Bosch specification sales director Rob Leonard..