ECA celebrates 125th anniversary with extensive programme of activities

The Electrical Contractors’ Association has set out a year of national and regional activity to mark its 125th anniversary, with a focus on skills, standards and the sector’s role in the UK’s push towards net zero.

The trade body said it will work with its Members to reflect on “125 years of progress” and highlight the opportunities ahead for the electrotechnical sector, as the UK continues the transition towards a lower-carbon economy.

The anniversary programme will be built around four themes:

• Legacy and Leadership
• Skills and Apprenticeships
• Technology and Transformation
• Trust, Integrity and Value

As part of the launch, ECA has released a film looking back at the association’s history, alongside a planned series of videos featuring Members and their work across the industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9UM7zmtO2I

While ECA’s anniversary messaging leans heavily into celebration, it is also positioning the year as an opportunity to underline the sector’s strategic importance. The organisation pointed to the scale of change the electrical industry has undergone over the past century – from major technological shifts to wider crises – and argued that electrification will again sit at the heart of the UK’s transformation as it works towards its 2050 carbon neutrality target.

Steve Bratt, Group CEO of ECA, noted, “For this milestone year we want to show the ways in which previous action by ECA and our Members has had a real impact on how the industry and our country have evolved. Today, the outside world is rediscovering at last just how vital electrification of the UK is, and the essential role that electrotechnical skills and capabilities have to play now, and even more so in the future.

“More needs to be done at a policy level to support the electrical industry in delivering what our country needs. Fairer contracts and payment practices, stronger technical standards and assurance, and more and better skilled people are all necessary if the UK electrical industry and the nations and regions we help to power are to fulfil their true potential.”

ECA’s 125th anniversary year is being sponsored by Aico, Edmundson Electrical and Schneider Electric.