ScottishPower named in UK's top 50 veteran employers for 2026

ScottishPower has been placed in the 50 Great British Employers of Veterans list for 2026. The energy company joins a roster that organisers describe as recognising "genuine, measurable and enduring commitment" to the armed forces community across recruitment, development, progression and retention.

The list is run by the Forces in Business Awards series, whose founder Ben Rossi argues that veteran employment has shifted in the past decade from a goodwill gesture to a genuine talent strategy. "Creating dedicated career pathways for the military community is not an act of charity," he said. "It is a source of talent and competitive advantage that can strengthen businesses at every level."

ScottishPower is a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant and says it holds the Ministry of Defence's Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, the top tier of that scheme.

What's actually on offer

The headline programme is EMPower, a 12-month scheme aimed at moving ex-forces personnel into permanent, skilled roles in renewable energy and electricity networks. The company describes it as tailored retraining rather than a generic graduate-scheme bolt-on, though the detail of what that retraining covers wasn't specified in the announcement.

Sarah McNulty, People Director at ScottishPower, framed the appeal in fairly standard terms - technical skills, resilience and leadership picked up in service, repurposed for the energy sector. "We know the technical skills, experience, resilience and leadership that come from military service," she said. "These are exactly the kind of transferable skills we want to harness and put to work as we grow our workforce."

The case studies

Two names were put forward to back up the pitch. Jack Brooke, from Lowestoft, served seven years with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers before joining ScottishPower Renewables in 2019 as an engineering systems lead. He pointed to the overlap between military safety culture and offshore renewables: "A forces background provides the exact skill set needed to thrive in this demanding, fast-paced industry."

Barry McIntosh, from Edinburgh, spent 24 years with the Royal Regiment of Scotland and is currently an EMPower trainee with SP Energy Networks. He described the transition out of uniform as daunting and EMPower as giving him "the time and the training to succeed", using management and communication skills built up over a full career.

If you're looking at energy as a second career, this is a name to put on the list of employers worth a closer look, alongside the others doing the same thing. A 12-month structured route into renewables and network roles is a reasonable offer on paper, particularly if you're coming out without a technical qualification already lined up. It is worth checking what EMPower actually involves day to day before applying and worth comparing it against other ERS Gold employers running similar schemes. Details at www.scottishpower.com.