Virgin Money plc (CYBG)
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 Virgin Money plc (CYBG) 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 Virgin Money plc (CYBG) 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
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
We also pledge the following:
Ensuring the fair provision of our products and services so as not to exclude members of the Armed Forces Community. For example: - Allowing service personnel to rent out their homes without changing to a buy-to-let mortgage when they are posted overseas, or to another part of the UK. Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces friendly organisation by; - displaying Armed Forces Covenant and Employer Recognition award on our external and internal web pages, and relevant correspondence. - publically celebrating our internal military community as well as those currently serving by supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day and other Armed Forces events. Seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old by; - working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) and the Officers Association (OA) in order to establish a tailored employment pathway for Service Leavers and Veterans including the Wounded, Injured and Sick; - running careers events and CV writing workshops specifically for veterans and service leavers to help them better understand the opportunities available in the financial sector. Striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners by; - endeavouring to find alternative employment within the business in another location if they need to relocate to accompany their partner; - endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment. Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces by; - granting a maximum of 2 weeks paid training leave a year - accommodating and supporting employees in the event of mobilization and providing an HR policy that clarifies the responsibilities of both the organisation and the individual; - advocating the benefits of the Reserves internally to our employees and facilitating exposure to the Reserves by engaging with local units. Continuing our support of military charities and events. For example: - supporting the Royal British Legion poppy Appeal by distributing poppies in our offices and adhering to a 2 minute silence on Armistice Day; - supporting the Heads Together Campaign as Virgin Money’s Charity of the year for 2017, including the campaign’s support for Contact, which is working to make mental health support easily accessible to service personnel, veterans and their families; - continuing our relationship with Walking With the Wounded, supporting them in their on-going projects wherever possible.
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.