E.ON hires Bob the Builder, sends him back to school

Bob the Builder is back in his original stop-motion form for an E.ON Next campaign that sends the much-loved tradesman to green skills training, with Neil Morrissey returning as his voice for the first time since 2011.

The 90-second film catches up with Bob after 15 years away. Following a spell of yoga, birdwatching and a trip to Australia, he becomes interested in solar panels and home batteries before returning to Britain and enrolling at E.ON Next’s Net Zero Training Academy.

E.ON Next research found that 31% of energy professionals do not believe the workforce is yet fully equipped to install the technology needed for the shift to cleaner energy.

The campaign was created by Studio La Plage, the production arm of MHP Group. Original puppet moulds and parts of the old sets were restored, while model makers and producers who worked on the early series helped build new additions including solar panels and an branded van.

“Bob helped bring up a whole generation of the UK – and now it’s their children watching him,” said Iona Inglesby, creative director at Studio La Plage.

Helen Bradbury, chief people officer at E.ON UK, said: “The need and the demand for green skills in the UK energy sector are there. Now it’s up to energy companies and the government, working together, to deliver for the country’s clean power ambitions.”

The idea taps into the same nostalgia-with-a-purpose territory that saw Kevin McCallister return to tackle a modern problem, while giving clean energy skills a character audiences already associate with learning how to build things.

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