Last Thursday’s Energy Efficiency Association Policy Conference at the Institute of Directors should have been a moment of clarity for an industry facing one of the most disruptive periods in its recent history. Instead, it became a vivid illustration of the deep disconnect between policymakers and the supply chain they rely on.
The event brought together installers, coordinators, manufacturers, funders, certification bodies, and local authorities – many of them grappling with collapsing pipelines of work, shrinking teams, and customers left stranded mid‑retrofit. Expectations were high when Jessica Skilbeck and Selvin Brown of DESNZ took to the stage to address the future of ECO, the Warm Homes Plan, and the turbulence created by recent policy shifts.
What followed, however, was deeply disappointing.
A Supply Chain in Crisis – But No Reassurance from DESNZ
Multiple industry reports confirm the scale of the fallout since ECO4 was cut back and then scrapped in the 2025 Autumn Budget.
- The scheme – previously the backbone of UK domestic retrofit – is ending permanently in April 2026, with no successor obligation in place and an unclear transition path to the Warm Homes Plan. Previously, the backbone of UK domestic retrofit,
- Installers across the UK have already begun cancelling projects, facing a “funding cliff edge”, and in some cases even receiving threats from clients whose retrofits now hang in limbo.
- Industry leaders warn of around 10,000 specialist jobs at risk, with SMEs especially vulnerable.
- Companies report burning through cash reserves – 88% with six months or less remaining – as work dries up while they wait for government clarity.
This is the real‑world context in which DESNZ representatives were speaking.
Yet when the floor opened for questions, the audience found themselves met with evasions, generalities, and circular statements. The two DESNZ speakers managed to speak at length without answering any of the questions that matter most:
- When will concrete details of the Warm Homes Plan be released?
- How will the government prevent further job losses before the new scheme begins?
- What happens to the thousands of unfinished ECO4 projects?
- How will trust be rebuilt with households who feel abandoned?
- Why was ECO4 scrapped before its replacement was ready?
These aren’t political questions – they’re the operational realities of an industry that delivers essential upgrades to some of Britain’s poorest households.
A Conference Full of Energy and Frustration
The day was otherwise an example of this sector at its best. As always, the panel discussions were robust and constructive. Industry leaders openly shared perspectives on standards, supply chain fragility, training, and the practical challenges of delivering retrofit at scale.
But every conversation circled back to the same theme:
This industry cannot function on uncertainty.
The government’s own data shows ECO4 has delivered nearly 950,000 measures into 280,000 homes, cutting bills and carbon emissions on a national scale. It has been the main legislative driver for domestic retrofit for over a decade.
To remove it without a fully‑formed successor isn’t just a policy decision – it’s a destabilising shockwave that is already putting companies out of business and leaving thousands of vulnerable households without support.
The Sector Deserves and Needs, Straight Answers
The frustration in the room on Thursday wasn’t abstract. It came from people who:
- employ teams they may no longer be able to pay,
- have customers calling daily asking whether their insulation or heating upgrades will ever be finished,
- have invested in training, certification, and compliance to meet evolving standards,
- want to deliver the outcomes the government itself has said it wants.
Clarity is not optional; it is the lifeline that keeps this sector functioning.
Industry bodies, including the IAAF, AgilityEco, and numerous certification organisations, have repeatedly called for DESNZ to publish details of successor schemes before shutting down existing ones. Those calls remain unanswered.
A Turning Point – If Government Chooses to Take It
The EEA Conference made one thing unmistakably clear:
**The supply chain is ready to deliver.
But it cannot deliver into a policy vacuum.**
We need transparency. We need timelines. We need the successor scheme detailed, funded, and published. And above all, we need the government to acknowledge the very real human and economic cost of delay.
Until then, conferences like this will remain a mixture of inspiration and exasperation, brilliant people working in an environment where the rules keep changing, and the answers never quite come.
If you attended the event, I’d love to hear your key takeaway, especially how you felt following the DESNZ session.
Let’s keep this conversation going, because the future of our industry, and the warmth, comfort, and energy security of millions of households, depends on it.
