Tag: careers

Recognition is welcome – but the real test is how more doors can be opened for young people

23 June 2026

Opinion

When Drax was Highly Commended for ‘Skills Leadership’ in this month’s Renewable Energy Association’s (REA) awards, it was welcome recognition. But awards matter most when they point to something deeper: sustained, practical work that helps young people see their futures, gives employers a route to engage with local talent, and builds the skills communities need for the economy ahead.

That recognition comes at a significant time. The recent Alan Milburn report on Young People & Work has renewed our focus on the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), and on the long-term consequences of disconnection from opportunity. The challenge is not only unemployment. It is confidence, aspiration, access, networks and whether young people can see a credible path from the classroom into meaningful work.

For businesses rooted in their communities, this is where responsibility becomes practical. It is not enough to talk about future skills or the green economy in abstract terms. Young people need early exposure to workplaces, meaningful encounters with employers, mentoring, careers insight, work experience and clear routes into apprenticeships, technical education and employment.

This is the substance behind Drax’s REA recognition. Through work led by the Drax Community & Education team, we have been building a connected pathway from education to employment in Selby, North Yorkshire and the wider Humber region. In 2025, activity included 97 educational tours of Drax Power Station for 2,300 students, 111 STEM education and careers ns reaching more than 9,500 students, and 260 hours of mentoring delivered by 36 Drax Education Ambassadors.

The impact is visible in the detail. Drax Foundation support for SKILLZ CIC has helped deliver employability workshops and mentoring for young people at risk of becoming NEET in North Yorkshire, engaging 1,890 young people through mentoring, career talks and visits to Drax Power Station. Drax’s partnership with Springpod has opened free virtual work experience and project simulations for students aged 13–19, with nearly 4,000 enrolments and 98% of completers rating their awareness of sector careers as good or excellent. Our new partnership with Futures for All is providing meaningful experiences of work for young learners in the communities where we operate.

But reducing the risk of young people falling out of education, employment or training cannot be solved by one employer, school, charity or public body alone. That is why the launch of Selby Connected matters. Developed by Drax and Up for Yorkshire as a private, public and voluntary sector partnership, it brings local employers together with civic and community partners to coordinate action, pool insight and improve access to support across the region.

A key focus is on education, skills and employability. Local analysis has shown that awareness of specialist employment support, including skills training and work experience opportunities, remains low. Young people and residents also face barriers linked to geography, transport, access to services and suitable local opportunities. Selby Connected is designed to join up what exists, identify gaps and help more people find opportunities that can change their trajectory.

The lesson from both the Milburn report and Drax’s own experience is clear: employability is not created when someone applies for their first job. It is built earlier, through repeated experiences that develop confidence, communication, problem-solving, ambition and a sense of belonging in the world of work. It grows when employers show up consistently, schools have access to trusted partners, and community organisations are resourced to reach those who may otherwise miss out.

Drax’s Highly Commended REA award should therefore be seen as a proof point, not a finish line. It recognises the quality of work already being delivered by our Community & Education team and partner organisations, but the bigger opportunity lies in scaling that work through partnership. Selby Connected provides the platform to bring businesses, the public sector and voluntary organisations together around a shared ambition for Selby and the surrounding villages.

The challenge of NEETs is national, but the solutions will often be local. They depend on trusted relationships, practical collaboration, and employers willing to invest time, knowledge and opportunity in the next generation. In Selby, that work is already under way. The task now is to keep building it, so more young people can move from aspiration to experience, and from potential to meaningful employment

Local businesses or public and voluntary sector organisations in Selby and the surrounding villages who would like to learn more about Selby Connected or get involved can contact [email protected]

My four principles of leadership

Dorothy Thompson, (2005-2017 Chief Executive, Drax Group)

2 June 2016

Opinion

1. Have vision  

The first task of any leader is to have the vision for the future of their organisation. This doesn’t mean creating it on his or her own. It means that a leader needs to be ready to challenge assumptions, embrace change, have courage and be brave when necessary.

When I think about this I’m reminded of the challenges we faced when we decided to upgrade our power station in Yorkshire to use compressed wood pellets instead of coal .

In delivering this strategy, we faced three major hurdles:

  • Nobody had ever done it before.  There was no technical solution readily available. We had to create one ourselves using our own engineering know-how.
  • There was no supply chain for the compressed wood pellets. We would need to build our own.
  • Civil servants doubted we could deliver it and regardless, there was no Government support for our vision.

Because we had been so thorough, I knew that we had our facts right. In particular, I was certain that we could produce the same amount of electricity while cutting carbon by 80 per cent.

The only logical conclusion was to drive forward. It would never have happened if we hadn’t been confident about our vision.

I’m particularly proud of the way Drax engineers have developed a world-leading technology to transform the way the UK’s largest power station works without any interruption to supply. In 2015, we generated 7.9% of the UK’s electricity or 26.7 TWh from the one single site in North Yorkshire, according to data in our annual report and from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC). That included 11.5 TWh of compressed wood pellet power – equal to around 13% of the UK’s total renewable electricity (up from 12% a year earlier) or enough to meet the needs of around three million homes (one in every 10 in the country). From the fourth quarter of 2015, we began generating more electricity from sustainable biomass than from coal.

There’s still a long way to go – at least three years if not more – before we can say our work is done, but it’s already a massive achievement.

2. Always be open and approachable

Everyone in your organisation needs to understand what you’re seeking to achieve and why.

For me, being open is also about being honest, approachable and interested in other views. Not just as an individual, but as an entire organisation. As President Obama said while addressing young people on his recent visit to the UK:

“Seek out people who don’t agree with you, and it will also help you to compromise.”

In some instances you need to push forward, while in others you need to compromise. That means a leader needs to trust in their vision while being open to challenges.

At Drax, we know our employees have integrity and can be trusted. At all levels, people need to have highly sensitive information to do their job. This can be a very challenging issue for a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, where a leak could do very serious damage indeed.

When we first listed in 2005, this led to boardroom disagreement. On one side, directors wanted to restrict information to a minimum because they felt this was the best way to limit risk.

As Chief Executive, I strongly disagreed with this. Obviously some things need to be kept confidential, but I really believe that it is important for a leader to be open. In fact, I think one of the key strengths of the Group is our open and frank culture. We have never suffered a significant leak in my time in charge.

3. Together we’re stronger 

A leader’s role is not to take all the decisions. Leadership is about getting the best out of everyone around you. That includes the team you work with on a day-to-day basis, the wider team across the whole organisation, and all your stakeholders.

You never know in advance where the best idea is going to come from. If you’re recruitment is right, you’re surrounded by highly qualified experts.

At Drax, I encourage colleagues to have their say. I am surrounded by people who are willing and able to challenge my views and those of my colleagues on our Executive Committee. I would be silly not to listen to them. We all are more engaged when we’re involved in finding the solution to a problem than when we’re merely dictated to.

Central business district, Gaborone, Botswana

4. Drive the future  

No leader can wait for events to unfold. You have to drive your organisation forward in order to shape its future. In my opinion, indecision is the worst decision of all.

In my 20s I worked for the National Development Bank of Botswana in Gaborone. The bank provided farmers with short- term loans to buy seed to grow their crops.

One day a farmer who was clearly very poor turned up to see the loan officer who shared an office with me. He hadn’t received his loan, because the loan officer hadn’t processed his application in time. So there were no seeds to plant and no crops for the next season.

For years I blamed the loan officer for the farmer’s misfortune. However, from my practical experience as a leader, I now know better. The loan officer’s manager, who was afraid to reprimand him because he came from a privileged local family, should have had more courage. Because they couldn’t decide how to handle the situation, the company and the community it served suffered. Leadership is not an exact science and nothing can compare to experience.

For the sake of future generations, the world needs to urgently move away from coal. Unlike the manager in Gaborone who jeopardised a farmer’s future, my Drax colleagues and I know our leadership is driving the future towards the decarbonisation of our economy.