Th panel including two Army Reservists dressed in their uniforms, two employers and Keely from the Chamber of Commerce are posed together as a group, smiling at the camera.

Canley Army Reserve Centre opened its doors to invite Coventry-based businesses to join them for a morning of breakfast networking.

In partnership with the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, we explored the benefits of the Armed Forces Covenant and the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, with the help of insights from our own Employer Engagement team.

Keely Hancox, Operations Manager at the Chamber, chaired a lively panel discussion about the value and skills that Reservists and the wider Armed Forces community (including Cadets and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers) can bring to your workforce, where we heard from Army Reservists from Canley-based Headquarters 159 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps and Reservist employees from Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Award holders Cadent Gas and Wigley Investment Holdings.

Employers and Army Reservists are standing in 159 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps' mess room, chatting and enjoying breakfast together.

Confidence, teamwork, leadership, problem solving and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone were all listed as the top qualities their part-time careers in the Reserve Forces has developed and enhanced: all of which are highly desirable skills in the workplace.

We also put our panellists in the spotlight about their motivations for joining, myth-busting about Reserve service and the support their respective civilian companies offer them as Reservists.

Cat Suckling, Regional Employer Engagement Director for the Coventry and Warwickshire region, said: “Our Breakfast Networking Breakfast was a key opportunity for employers who are engaged with Defence at various levels to come together, exchange knowledge and understanding and to learn more about the value of the Armed Forces community in the workplace.

The panel are sitting around a low table facing the audience, whilst one employer is speaking in to a microphone to answer a panel question.

“We heard from a diverse panel of serving Army Reservists, a Veteran and the Defence Point of Contact for an Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award holder on a range of questions from best practice in the support of Reservists, to how to manage deployments well. In addition to the formal panel section of the event, the room was buzzing with conversations between employers sharing their experiences and exchanging details.”

Veteran-owned business 2 Much Passion CIC provided everyone with a tasty breakfast to keep everyone marching on their stomachs. A big thank you to everyone who joined us!

For anyone that missed our breakfast networking event, please get in touch with Cat Suckling at wm-reed3@rfca.mod.uk to learn more about how your organisation can benefit from the skills of those in the Armed Forces community, and for details of any future networking events.  Visit our webpage for more information about how we work with employers.

 

Published 26/11/24