The Armed Forces Covenant
This vital Covenant was signed in September 2021 by Max Joy, Sweco’s UK & Ireland president, who previously served as Lt Col in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
We are proud to confirm that Sweco UK & Ireland is a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant. This represents our recognition of military duty, past and present, and the value we place on their contribution to our business and society as a whole.
By signing the Covenant, we join many of our clients and partners, who have previously pledged their commitment to support the members of the Armed Forces by ensuring that these individuals and their families are treated fairly in the workplace and are fully integrated into the wider community. Our commitment also supports the values shared in our social mobility plan as well as that of our diversity and inclusion plan.
Having served in the British Army for 28 years prior to joining Sweco, I am proud to have known and worked with thousands of service personnel from around the world – and am equally proud to work with a number of fellow veterans as well as those still associated to our wonderful armed forces in my current role.
At Sweco, we believe in attracting and recruiting the best talent. With the current skills shortage in the engineering sector, we recognise the breadth of expertise that our military personnel possess, from strong leadership and analytical skills to project management. Such skills are invaluable for the delivery of our projects.
Max Joy OBE Sweco UK & Ireland President
Our Key commitments
Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Covenant
- Sweco UK 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
- in some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our Commitment
2.1 We recognise the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business and to our country. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by:
- Promoting the Armed Forces: promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation, to our staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public.
- Veterans: supporting the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process; working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support the employment of Service leavers;
- Service Spouses & Partners: supporting the employment of Service spouses and partners; partnering with the Forces Families Jobs Forum; and providing flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment.
- Reserves: supporting our employees who are members of the Reserve Forces; granting additional paid/unpaid leave for annual Reserve Forces training; supporting any mobilisations and deployment; actively encouraging members of staff to become Reservists;
- Cadet Organisations: supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations, granting additional leave to attend annual training camps and courses; actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations; supporting local military cadet units; recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce.
- National Events: supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities;
- Armed Forces Charities: supporting Armed Forces charities with fundraising and supporting staff who volunteer to assist;
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.