Honouring our Heroes: Celebrating Armed Forces Day
In recognition of Armed Forces Week, we announced that we have signed the Armed Forces Covenant pledge. Our next step is to work towards achieving the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Bronze award. This demonstrates our ongoing support and dedication to our Armed Forces community, from currently serving troops to Service families, veterans and cadets.
On Armed Forces Day we took the time to thank the brave men and women who have served our country. We are proud to have team members within our Group who have served in the military, bringing valuable skills and experiences to our business. Their stories show their dedication and the important lessons they’ve carried into their civilian lives.
Stories of Service
“I wanted to join the military straight after school but due to having asthma as a child, I had to wait a couple of years for the all-clear. In 2013 I started infantry training for the Coldstream Guards. While serving I visited many amazing places such as Kenya, Belize, the Falklands, Romania, and Gibraltar. I have also been a part of many state ceremonial duties including the late Queen’s birthday parade (trooping the colour), government and President state visits and most noticeably, I was a part of Prince Philip’s funeral. When I served I learnt a lot of life lessons. Everyone knows the military is an environment where attention to detail and discipline is key and I don’t think that has ever left me. Everything I learnt during my 9 years in the army are things that will stay with me. I am very proud to have served!”
“I served 4 years with the Coldstream Guards alongside my brother Will. Our role was primarily as an infantry regiment within the British Army; however, we also undertook ceremonial duties such as guarding the royal palaces, the Queen’s birthday parade as it was at the time. During my time, I took part in 2 trooping the colours, including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. I’ve been part of various state visits and numerous changing-the-guard ceremonies. I’ve guarded Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, and St James’s Palace. I also spent 2 months out in the jungles of Belize learning jungle warfare and how to survive on the bare minimum. I could manage for hours. Being in the army has taught me many life skills, but the ones that I bring to my role each day are probably a keen eye for detail, structure, working with a vast demographic, and dealing with curveballs.”
“I served in the British Army between 2002 and 2007, in the AGC (SPS) Corps, serving with 1 Close Support Medical Regiment, 3rd Royal Horse Artillery, and The Blues and Royals Regiment. Some of my proudest moments were serving on Op Telic 7, protecting 99 polling stations during the public elections in Iraq, and giving the people a chance to have a voice. Achieving the rank of Corporal and serving alongside Prince Harry and Prince William in The Blues and Royals Regiment. I even had a food fight with the Royals at Christmas, which was fun. I learnt so much in the military, most importantly that you’re only as strong as your weakest link, unity is true power, and efficiency is success. A total of 179 British Armed Forces personnel died serving on Operation Telic during the 6-year campaign. Rest in Peace! ‘To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.’”
“Reflecting on my six years in the British Army, with tours in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Kosovo, I am deeply grateful for the invaluable life lessons I learnt. These experiences taught me resilience, the importance of teamwork, and the strength found in unity amidst adversity. They shaped my ability to navigate challenges with determination and grit—skills that I now use daily!”
Mick Carr
“During my 24-year tenure with the Royal Engineers, I proudly reached the rank of Sergeant. My primary trade as a Driver Specialist involved operating diverse specialist equipment, including mechanised bridging and operational life support. Over the years, I took on multiple roles such as vehicle servicing and maintenance, driving instructor, specialist equipment trainer, driving examiner, vehicle fleet manager, and military map reading instructor.
My career included multiple operational tours in the Gulf War, Northern Ireland, Macedonia, Afghanistan, and Kuwait/Iraq, as well as numerous operations and exercises in Europe, Norway (extreme cold weather operations), Canada (construction tour), the Falkland Islands (protection and construction), the USA, Oman (extreme hot environment mobility), Egypt, Gibraltar (construction), and the Caribbean Islands (mobility and life support).
Through these experiences, I gained invaluable life skills and learned various methods of instruction and personnel management in harsh and stressful environments, as well as logistics. This full career had a predominantly positive impact on my life. I was fortunate that my transition into new careers was relatively smooth, thanks to my positive outlook, a broad spectrum of knowledge, and extensive experiences.”
“I was a recruit between 2018/19 for about a year in ATC Pirbright. I was in line to join the REME as a vehicle mechanic and while during an exercise I felt a large “crunch” in one of my legs following a significant burning sensation which then happened not even a minute later in the other leg. A Major then deemed my injury to be serious enough to have an MRI which then confirmed that I had stress fractures that had become full fractures. Upon closer inspection, my vitamin D count was incredibly low, way below the average expected for my age.
I was given some supercharged vitamin D pills which did fix me but this took months after my discharge to gain even some form of mobility again. Despite the outcome, I genuinely really enjoyed my experience and I wanted to enlist again to find that due to the type of injury and the Vitamin D count issue, I was told I needed to wait 5 years to apply again or get a doctor’s note to override the decision.
Fate had other plans for me and I decided to stay out as I didn’t want this experience a second time. Would I still do this again? Yes.”
We appreciate their bravery and the valuable lessons they have brought to our workplace. Their commitment continues to benefit our community, and for that, we are thankful.
