Power network operator welcomes first intern from national diversity programme

Stockport-based regional power network operator, Electricity North West, has welcomed its first intern from a national diversity programme to support black graduates to access paid work experience opportunities.

Pracious Nkume (pictured, centre) joined the business in July as part of the 10,000 Black Intern programme. The initiative launched in 2020 and seeks to offer 2,000 internships annually until 2025. The regional power network operator committed to participating in the programme earlier this year as part of its efforts to build diversity across the business.

Rachael Parr, Electricity North West’s people and corporate services director, said:

“Across the UK the utilities industry lags behind other sectors in terms of diversity and needs to do more.

“As a business we always want to do better and that’s why we’ve set ambitious targets to improve diversity over the next five years.

“The 10,000 Black Intern programme is an excellent initiative of which we’re proud to be a part of and we plan to take on more interns through the programme in the future.

“Over the next five years, we’re committed to upskilling and investing in our workforce and by 2028, we’ll be creating 600 green jobs and enhancing the diversity of our current workforce.”

Pracious Nkume has joined Electricity North West’s accommodation team, which oversees the running of the power network operator’s depots and offices across the region. As part of her paid work experience so far, she has helped carry out energy audits, lighting and energy consumption trends reviews and been part of vulnerability group engagement. She said of her experience:

“The idea of gaining experience within the industry really excited me and I was delighted to be given an opportunity to learn with a hands-on approach.

“Before joining, I didn’t realise how big Electricity North West were and how many differing roles they have across the business. I’ve managed to gain experience in a range of different topics including contributing to the huge renovation at the Preston site.

“The 10,000 Black Intern programme holds significant value and has been great at actively promoting diversity and inclusion; I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.”