DPD Group UK 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 DPD Group UK 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 DPD Group UK 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:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
We also pledge the following:
promote the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation, to our staff, customers and suppliers. We will support the employment of Reservists, Veterans, Service spouses and partners; advertising vacancies online and also we have partnered with the Career Transition Partnership and set up to advertise all our roles on the website and also other network training partners that offer employment to veterans. We will support reservists with our HR policy and not let deployment or additional leave affect permanent employment with us, endeavouring to grant leave to attend annual training camps and courses. We will endeavour to support national events such as Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities; with roadshows, road safety events for local cadets and the opportunity at armed forces days to promote working with DPD and see our vehicles and the benefits of working with us. Were a major employer of former armed forces personnel and have many supporters/families etc. In 2020 we supported and raised £20,000 across all of DPD UK and doubled this to £40,000 for the RBLPA. We will nominate an armed forces champion to be a point of contact to make sure we are consistent with being an armed forces friendly organisation attending employer engagement events, also sharing with the whole business how we support defence people and encourage everyone to get involved with armed forces week and Reserves day.
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.