Boroughbridge-based Reed Boardall has been earned a Bronze award by the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme as an employer supporting defence personnel and inspires others to do the same. Already, the Yorkshire-based logistics business has 23 veterans, serving personnel employed part-time and reservists in the team at its Boroughbridge site.
Over the last year, the company has formalised its support of former and serving defence personnel, as well as building links with the prison services to increase the employment of ex-offenders. It has partnered with organisations such as Career Transition Partnership (CTP), Army Families Federation, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), HM Prison Service and People Plus, as well as charities Veteran into Logistics and Clean Slate Solutions.
As a result, the company has introduced a number of initiatives both to actively recruit from these communities and also to ensure that it provides adequate support once people join the Reed Boardall team. It also takes part in recruitment fairs and virtual workshops with CTP and local Regional Resettlement Centres, linking with service personnel going through the resettlement process and giving them an insight into the logistics sector, including Reed Boardall’s Driver Academy.
One of the leading providers of cold storage and distribution services to food producers and retailers across the UK, Reed Boardall’s Bronze award is a demonstration of its pledge to advocate support to defence and the armed forces community, and align its values with the Armed Forces Covenant.
Daniel Delacoe-Eyre, a veteran who served for over 17 years in a number of regiments before joining Reed Boardall in 2020 to lead its HR operation, comments: “As a former soldier and officer myself, I understand only too well the concerns and even fear felt by service personnel as they contemplate leaving the armed forces. It’s vital that businesses do what they can for them when they return to civilian life.”
