British Engineering Services Limited
We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.
The Armed Forces Covenant
An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families
The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.
Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.
Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant
1.1 We British Engineering Services Limited will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 British Engineering Services Limited recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
We also pledge the following:
Employment Welcoming the very best people to our team is important to us and we are delighted that this includes a significant number of those making the transition from the Armed Forces to a civilian role every year. We are proud to have partnered with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) since we became an independent business in 2015. As part of this ongoing relationship, we exhibit at recruitment events, not only to share more about BES Group and how we support service leavers who join our team, but also to educate attendees on the many roles available within our industry. Along with this, we host live webinars where attendees can spend time with longer serving members of our team who joined us from the military. On top of our ongoing partnership with CTP, we are pleased to work closely with White Ensign and RAJA, posting all relevant job vacancies on their job board. As part of this process, we ensure we are available to discuss our roles further, offering guidance and advice to potential applicants along the way. Every year, a significant number of new starters join BES Group either directly or indirectly from the Armed Forces. This has proven to be an extremely successful career path for most who join us in this way, and we are delighted to have seen many of these people grow and develop their career into leadership and/or specialist roles during their time with our company. Supporting career progression for service leavers by providing access to the very best training is an ongoing priority across our business. We are also pleased to support Reservists within our team and are committed to helping ensure they can honour their external duties by offering additional unpaid leave. Promoting the Armed Forces: With a team made up of so many service leaders, it is important to us that we continually celebrate and promote the Armed Forces. We do this both internally and externally, using platforms such as our website, intranet, Linkedln and other social media channels. From shining the spotlight on people across our team on Armed Forces Day, to paying our respects on Remembrance Day, for example, we are proud to actively recognise all significant events taking place across the UK. In addition, our suite of employee case studies and testimonials are available on our external sites and include more about the experience of several people who joined our team from the military. Giving our people the opportunity to reflect and share more about their time serving for our nation is something we are always pleased to do. Employment support to members of the Armed Forces Community: We are focused on ensuring that useful information for those looking to make the transition from the Armed Forces to a potential role with BES Group, is easy to find and have a dedicated section on the careers page of our website, as a result. This can be easily accessed from our home pager and includes more about the benefits of joining our company, our partnership with CTP and even links to some useful Frequently Asked Questions, for example. Communications, engagement and outreach: We have an active internal Armed Forces community, founded by one of our ex-military leaders. This is easy to access and gives our veteran network the opportunity to connect with colleagues with similar back grounds. This is a well populated community where members can contribute, start discussions or simply view the conversations of others. New starters to the Group are also invited to an induction on their first day with the company. During their induction, relationships are built with other new starters and leaders from across the business, many of whom have joined via a similar ex-military route. In addition, all new starters are given a buddy with a similar background. We also leverage our relationship with external organisations such as CTP and White Ensign and have featured articles in their newsletters. Health The Health, Safety and wellbeing of our complete team is our number one priority at BES Group. From ongoing safety training to empowering our people to make the right decision, when it comes to their safety, we are focused no ensuring our people get home safely at the end of the working day. We are pleased to provide mental health awareness and training for our complete team and have a number of Mental Health First Aiders readily available to offer support and guidance. Our confidential Employee Assistance Program is available to our complete team and provides professional well being support along with access to counselling services, any time of day or day of the year. Our people are at the heart of our success as a business and helping ensure they remain safe and well is something we will never compromise on.
2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.