28/10/2026
Capital alone will not get UK energy projects connected.
Jacobs' The Energy Readiness Equation found that 59% of UK energy leaders surveyed ranked grid or network readiness among their three biggest delivery barriers, the highest proportion across the five countries studied. Meanwhile, 69% said sufficient capital was available, but only 31% believed there were also enough investable projects.
That gap matters for workforce planning as much as investment planning.
From a recruitment perspective, the answer is not simply to hire a bigger construction team. It is to identify which capabilities a project needs at each stage, including grid connections, HV engineering, planning and commercial management, before committing to a site mobilisation date.
Hiring cannot resolve network capacity or regulatory uncertainty. But recruitment plans should reflect those dependencies, rather than sit separately from them.
For developers, that means linking hiring decisions to credible project milestones and being clear with candidates about what is confirmed and what remains dependent on approvals or connection dates.
The aim should be a team built around a deliverable programme, not just an ambitious target date.
The figure was one of several findings from Jacobs’ The Energy Readiness Equation, which was published today and featured analysis of 600 energy leaders
