Andrew Glassford

Freelance Sound Engineer, Retrofit Get-In Project
Andrew Glassford
Andrew Glassford is a Manchester freelance theatre technician and production manager...turned retrofitter.

With a decade's experience working in live events, Andrew saw a huge skills base in the creative industry emerge for retrofit because of the pandemic which - with Get In co-founders Red Cooperative - is kickstarting a retrofit revolution to build back better. Andrew recognised the opportunity for theatre and live events workers to use their transferable skills to make homes more energy efficient.

To date, more than 7,000 theatre and live events workers are estimated to have been made redundant across the country as a result of the pandemic. In comparison, recent research suggests that retrofitting homes in northern England has the potential to create 77,000 new jobs. With the support of Manchester-based retrofit co-operative Red Co-op, the Retrofit Get-in Project has so far re-deployed around a dozen events workers at a home improvement project in Whalley Range.

The founders are now planning to get the support they need to develop a formal training scheme and build a pipeline of local work.