NEWS ARTICLE

26 June 2021

 

Costain recognises the vital role of the British Armed Forces, Services personnel and the valuable contribution that members of the Reserve Forces make to Britain’s defence, their communities, and their civilian workplace.

Since signing the Armed Forces Covenant in 2018, Costain has continued to demonstrate its commitment by providing additional support to reservist employees and through growing the Costain Service and Services Families Network.

In 2020, Costain achieved the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme silver award and is now working towards gold standard.

George Hilliar, a behavioural management consultant, is the current chair of the Services and Service Families’ Network at Costain. He explained, “Having gone through transition from the Army many years ago, I felt it was important to help those leaving the services now. Working in the services is different to working in the private sector but the skills which service people have are invaluable. We work with organisations that support service leavers and we provide mentoring and coaching to help individuals through their transition to commercial and corporate roles.”

Richard Paddey, a highways customer lead at Costain who left the Police Force in 2013 added, “Service personnel have a wealth of unique skills and experience that transition well into the private sector. I help influence customer safety using the skills I developed in the force. At Costain I’m most proud of winning the ‘Home Safe & Well’ champion award at the recent Highways England Awards.”

Rebecca See, a Costain quality practitioner and Army reservist said, “Costain has been incredibly supportive of my reservist career. The military leave policy allows me to take 10 days paid leave annually so I know that I can attend my annual training camp each year. This exercise is an important part of being a reservist as it gives us the opportunity to complete continuous training where we can focus on our trade specific skills. I know that if I am deployed on operations there will still be a job for me to come back to.”

In addition to the Network, Costain has also established a military coworking hub to support spouses and families back into employment, study, or networking when they relocate with their serving partners. The employee-led initiative has secured funding to roll out in business centres on military campuses.

Network sponsor and defence sector director at Costain, Cameron Tonkin, said, “With seven reservists and 60+ veterans currently employed at Costain, we continue to honour our pledge and benefit from the experience, expertise and specific skills each individual brings.”