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Join Energy Institute West Midlands YPN and AFBE-UK for an engaging and inspiring evening designed to help you take control of your career journey. Chess Club: Strategically Mapping Out Your Career is not your typical career event — it's a dynamic, interactive, and practical session where strategy meets inspiration.
Just like chess, building a successful career requires foresight, resilience, and well-timed moves. Through thought-provoking activities, you’ll explore how to assess your current position, identify growth opportunities, and navigate career challenges with clarity and confidence.
Hear from inspirational speakers who have carved unique paths in the energy and engineering sectors, and gain actionable insights from their stories of success, setbacks, and strategic choices. Whether you're a student, professional, or considering your next move, this session will empower you to take intentional steps towards your goals.
What to Expect:
- Interactive and practical session
- Inspirational speakers
- Networking opportunities with like-minded professionals and students
Come prepared to reflect, engage, and leave with a personalised strategy to power your next career move.
Lewis Payne, Engineering Support Manager, Energy Management
"I thoroughly enjoyed completing my Level 1 Certificate in Energy Management Essentials. In order to complete the course, I had to take an exam and complete an energy audit portfolio, which I took great joy in putting together. After this, I am hoping to complete the second stage of my training with the Energy Institute (Level 2 Energy Management Professional). I then plan to progress to Level 3 ‘Advanced Energy Manager’ training qualification, and to apply to become a Chartered Energy Manager."
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Elly Stimpson-Duffy, Health & Safety, Energy and Environment Advisor, G4S Facilities Management (UK) Limited
"Excellent — I thought not having any experience would hold me back but Chris was excellent and patient with me and coached me through. The course was well-rounded and covered all aspects of energy."
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Edita Adamcikova, Senior Energy Manager, Viridor
The Level 3: Advanced Energy Manager course exceeded my expectations. The course was delivered by energy industry professionals with years of experience, who all ensured that each topic was explained and talked through until everyone in the room was comfortable with it. Discussions and knowledge sharing were encouraged during every lesson, creating a great networking atmosphere. We started the course as a group of strangers, but even though the course finished almost a year ago, we still carry on meeting over good food or a drink to discuss the energy industry and our next career steps.
Level 3 — Face-to-face
Natalie Maggs, Section Head - Bureau, Octego
"The course has given me knowledge of the different types of equipment available to our clients and how each one could reduce/manage energy consumption and cost. It has also allowed me to see what is involved in an energy audit and what calculations are required to show the potential savings."
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Craig Jones, Group Facilities Manager, Portman Travel Group
"The course as a whole provided me with a better understanding of the Energy Management industry. Prior to taking the course I thought, the basic knowledge I had was adequate. But taking this course has already allowed me to make improvements within the business and provide our management team with ideas to drive down consumption in the future."
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Chris McHale, Operations & Utilities Team Leader, Johnson Matthey
"The training on Level 1 Certificate in Energy Management Essentials has certainly helped me to:
- Become confident in the way we manage and monitor energy
- Make instant energy savings - it gets you thinking of who your biggest energy consumers are
- Effectively communicate energy ideas and promotions to the workforce
- Review and update our site energy policy annually
- Produce a business case and energy report to justify changes to senior management"
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Amine Sennani, Associate Director, Cabinet FSE
"The difficult economic situation that we are going through must push loss-adjusting firms, based in Morocco, to open up more internationally. However, gaining the trust of the major players in the insurance industry, particularly in London, Paris or Munich, is not an easy task. Admittedly, the requirements are not the same, given the size of the Moroccan market, but we can try to get as close as possible to them by obtaining certificates recognised abroad. Therefore, I would like to thank the Energy Institute for the online training courses offered, rich in information on issues we often encounter in our business. However, I'm not going to miss the stress of some of the exam questions!"
Level 2 — Online
Emma Callicott, Senior Energy Advisor, Purchase Direct
"Very beneficial course especially 'Finance, procurement and risk assessment', 'Fuels and combustion' and 'Carbon management plans' modules. These have really helped me in my current role, and I often refer to my notes. I hope to complete Level 3 in future. I am also planning on becoming an ESOS Lead Assessor. Thank you for the resources and for providing the course. My tutor Richard Bujko was really helpful and knowledgeable, and appreciated him always being available, or responding very quickly to any of my queries. A pleasure to work with. I found the course really helpful in order to progress in my current role and felt I have developed professionally. Thank you :)".
Level 2 — Online
Hayley George, Energy Project Manager, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
"Before the course, I had a little professional experience in domestic zero-carbon energy technology but I was inexperienced in any other theory and practical topic, audits etc. This provided me with the building blocks to understand this, including the calculations, quickly. The course tutor, Chris was excellent in his teaching, knowledge and support. He made it easy to learn with his patient and insightful teaching style and very clear instructions. Chris provides individual support throughout the course and beyond which is incredibly valuable for someone like myself who is fairly new to the energy industry.
The trip to Southbank University was a great addition and allowed for some much-needed practical learning and informal bonding with fellow coursemates and Chris. The EI Team at the EI HQ were also great and popped in to check everyone is happy and to have a chat. Overall a hugely beneficial course and enjoyable experience and would recommend it over and over again."
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Chiara Maltese, Environmental and Quality Manager, ByWaters
"I really enjoyed the field trip because it gave us the chance to see in reality what we had been studying in the course. Chris has been a great trainer, not only for his great knowledge of the subjects but also for his patience and for being able to create a friendly and engaging environment."
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Virginia Cheung, Energy Coordinator, University of Westminster
"I think the classroom Advanced Energy Manager course was excellent. The structure of the course is good, starts with basic elements and a recap. The first 3 fundamental lectures by Chris are crucial for everyone to lay a good foundation. The structure of the course and technical elements will enable me to demonstrate and speak with confidence on a range of energy management topics during my interview for Chartered Energy Manager."
Level 3 — Face-to-face
Richard Kelly, Estates Officer, Dublin City University
"In terms of using the training in my work, the project is a live work in progress. Great ideas on strategic energy planning and energy leadership. I would change nothing about the workshop programme, it is a great course, well administered, managed and delivered, I really enjoyed it and it met all my expectations. I liked everything about the course .....9 days of listening, learning and conversation."
Level 3 — Face-to-face
Ethan O'Brien, Energy and Sustainability Manager, Cory Riverside Energy
"The classroom element of the Advanced Energy Manager Programme was excellent. Each day the discussions, were interesting and very informative. I learned something in every session. The industry experience of all tutors is very relatable for us professionals. Most enjoyable overall. Apostolos and the training team coordinated it very well. All questions I raised were answered in a timely fashion, and most importantly, there was always a desire to help on behalf of the EI team. This matters most of all. They are helpful people. All tutors were very friendly and engaging. Learned lots of new information and new material to reference when working on future projects. I am delighted to have completed the course."
Level 3 — Face-to-face
"I would highly recommend this course. The course is professionally prepared and very professionally run. This is the first, but very necessary, step in understanding assessment of energy efficiency in buildings."
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Sarah Jolliffe AMEI, Company Energy Manager, BAM Nuttall
"I've been a member of the Energy Institute for 4 years now and in that time I've completed the L1 and L2 courses. These training programmes have greatly benefited both me personally and the organisation I work for by lifting my knowledge of energy/sustainability practices and improving our business offering to our clients and stakeholders.
It has also given me a great many reliable resources from which to call upon when I get stuck on a particular challenge and the Energy Institute has enormous reach globally in this sector."
Level 1 — Face-to-face | Level 2 — online
Dan Fernbank, Energy Manager, University of Reading
“This was a very good course to establish a firm foundation in energy management, with a range of topics and learning approached.”
Level 1 — Face-to-face
Dean Noden, Sales and Marketing Director, Enercom
“I was looking for a training course in energy management with some credibility. My search coincided with the launch of the EI’s elearning programme. It was perfect for me, offering the right length of study over a flexible period. It’s been a long time since I last studied and I found each module really interesting. If I came across any sections I needed more support with, I was able to speak with the tutor online and by phone.”
Level 1 — Online
Joseph Hargreaves, Corporate Governance, Inteb
"Not only was the course interesting and informative, it was written in a way that was suitable for a beginner - the perfect introduction to energy management. The online centre made communication fast and easy and the tutors were readily contactable and extremely helpful. I would give the course a 10/10 and would recommend it to anyone interested in energy."
Level 1 — Online
Very good course - Excellent learning activities - I would recommend it to anyone who has the responsibility to paying the energy bills at any organisation. They could benefit from more knowledge and understanding of energy management.
Level 1 — Online
Very good course and structure - It's a great 1st step towards becoming an energy manager. I really enjoyed it and I feel I've gained a lot of useful knowledge.
Level 1 — Online
I thoroughly recommend this course to anyone starting a new role in the energy management sector.
Level 1 — Online
Contact details
Chisomnazu Umeh: ypnwestmidlands@energyinst.org