Aberdeen energy industry 'needs 120,000 new recruits'

Aberdeen must attract 120,000 recruits - the equivalent of the city's current workforce - if it is to realise its potential as a global energy capital, according to a new report.

Accountants firm PwC said the recruits are needed by 2022, as almost half the industry's workforce is now over 45.

It called for the creation of an Aberdeen Energy Academy within two or three years.

It also urged the city to move on from the Union Terrace Gardens row.

Councillors controversially voted to scrap the plan to transform the gardens - the £140m City Garden Project - last month.

Mark Higginson, senior partner at PwC in Aberdeen, said: "The supply of appropriately skilled labour continues to be the greatest threat to Aberdeen's ability to become a global energy centre of excellence.

"Since we first outlined our vision of an Energy Academy ten months ago, an initial feasibility study has taken place with the concept gaining broad support from industry, academics and the public sector.

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