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Defence industry backs armed forces covenant

A group of defence industry companies yesterday signed the armed forces corporate covenant at the DSEI exhibition.

• From: Ministry of Defence and The Rt Hon Mark Francois MP
• Published: 13 September 2013

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Mark Francois, Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans

Launched earlier this year, the corporate covenant is a written and publicised voluntary pledge from businesses and charitable organisations who wish to demonstrate their concrete support for the Armed Forces community.

For the signing of the corporate covenant yesterday, 12 September, Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans Mark Francois was joined by representatives from BAE Systems, ISS Facility Services, BMT Group and General Dynamics UK.

All corporate covenants include a core statement of commitment that those adopting the scheme sign up to. This covers the 2 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

• in some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate, especially for the injured or bereaved

Mr Francois said:

Our Armed Forces and their families give everything to our country so I am delighted that BAE Systems, ISS UK, BMT Group and General Dynamics are signing a corporate covenant.

I would encourage other organisations and charities from across the country to get behind the corporate covenant and do their bit to support the Armed Forces in any way they can.

As part of their corporate covenant commitments, BAE Systems will work with Recovery Career Services and the Career Transition Partnership to support employment of Service leavers, and ISS Facility Services will offer internships to members of the Armed Forces.

John Whelan, UK HR Director at BAE Systems, said:

BAE Systems is proud to be one of the first signatories to this corporate version of the armed forces covenant. Our company is committed to supporting the men and women of the Armed Forces and we see resettling ex-military personnel as an important part of our resourcing strategy for future military projects.

The 4 defence companies join National Express as the first to sign up to the covenant.

Published 13 September 2013