UK green job market swells amid recession

Acre Resources saw job opportunities in Britain's renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainability and corporate social responsibility sectors grow by 58 percent in the past year, but gave no absolute figures on the size of the green job market.

"The green job market has proven resilient despite the recession and we have seen a steady increase of jobs being created," said Andy Cartland, managing director at Acre.

Job losses are mounting in other sectors including banking and heavy industry, with Tata Steel and banks Nomura and Lloyds announcing thousands of new UK redundancies.

Acre said green credentials are also becoming less vital for applicants, as environmental companies look for candidates with strong groundings in business and strategy.

"As sustainability becomes more engrained in everyday business practice, we are seeing top level business professionals migrate into green roles," Cartland added, citing as an example one former CEO and investment banker who switched to running London operations for a FTSE 250 environmental consultancy.

Cartland added that those that successfully make the move are not compromising on pay either, as six-figured salaries are becoming more common in the green jobs space.

Bethany Cox, marketing manager at Acre, told Reuters they have also seen more environmental job openings coming from the United States, the Middle East and Asia.