In a week of celebration of our Armed Forces, it has never been more important to recognise the value veterans can bring to the construction industry.
The press often paints a sorrowful picture of veterans as redundant after service, bereft with dispirit.
In fact, the opposite is true. What the Armed Forces do around training, development and leadership is nothing short of remarkable.
This includes providing the best apprenticeship training in the world, churning out some of the most elite, qualified and highly skilled individuals.
Across engineering, logistics, digital capability and everything in between, the Armed Forces are leading, enabling and at the cutting edge of delivery.
Moving faster
While the construction industry can be restrained by bureaucracy, or working to a metric, the military moves faster, even with the immense unknowns of foreign terrain.
Armed Forces personnel are predisposed to move faster than their adversaries, and with that comes more risks – something they are comfortable with.
Armed Forces personnel are brilliant at accepting high levels of risk and responding more quickly, while protecting each other’s safety
In fact, they are brilliant at accepting high levels of risk and responding more quickly, while protecting each other’s safety.
I’m always amazed at their loyalty to each other and selfless commitment in serving our nation.
Whether it’s war or peace, seen or unseen, our Armed Forces are a source of inspiration, reassurance and pride.
We must also thank our military families. Military life has an impact on loved ones, and they too are noble, heroic and selfless. They are also a great untapped talent pool that the construction industry is just coming to realise.
Shouting loud
At BuildForce, we started out alone, but now it is a whole industry thing. That’s our superpower: shouting loud and bringing everyone together.
Very few of our employers in construction had signed the Armed Forces Covenant when we started; now it’s being signed frequently; with many progressing to silver and gold awards.
This progress demonstrates that the tide is turning. Our Armed Forces are not just resources for the construction industry, they are assets.
We are currently facing the most serious global challenges. With these talented people defending us, the UK is safe – and industry will benefit from their talent when it’s their time to hang up their uniform.
#WeCanLearnFromThem.
Angela Forbes is CEO of BuildForce.
