Arable marketing company Frontier Agriculture has signed the Armed Forces Covenant to support members of the services it employs and help personnel who are moving back into civilian life.
Diana Overton and Major General Marc Overton
The Covenant formally recognises Frontier’s commitment to the fair treatment of employees who are Armed Forces veterans, or who are the family of Armed Forces personnel. It also commits to supporting Armed Forces reservists and volunteers in their training and postings.
Signing the Covenant gives Frontier access to the Career Transition Partnership’s Armed Forces talent pool – a recruitment service for Armed Forces personnel who are transitioning into civilian life.
The Covenant was signed by Frontier managing director Diana Overton, at an event at the business’s Nottingham site in June. It was attended by services veterans who work for Frontier as well as employees who currently serve in the reserves and as volunteers. The ceremony was attended by Major General Marc Overton CB TD VR, assistant chief of defence staff (reserves & cadets), UK Defence’s senior army reservist, who is also Diana’s husband.
“At Frontier we work hard to create a diverse and inclusive workplace; one that attracts people with a wide range of experience,” comments Mrs Overton. “It is an honour to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and publicly demonstrate our longstanding commitment to the fair treatment of veterans, the families of serving personnel, reservists and volunteers.
“It was also a pleasure to meet our veteran and reservist colleagues within Frontier. It was great to promote their service to the country to the wider business, and to help connect them with one another to begin the process of building a strong and supportive network within the company.”
Major General Overton adds: “By signing the Covenant, Frontier has made a strong and visible commitment to the Armed Forces. Agriculture and food security are critical parts of national defence, so seeing Frontier being so welcoming and supportive to the armed forces community is of significant importance.”
Sqn Ldr Michelle Nuttall, a knowledge exchange manager at Frontier, is a cadet force adult volunteer and officer in charge of 644 Volunteer Gliding Squadron. “I’m honoured to be setting up Frontier’s armed forces employee network to connect and support veterans and reservists, and to help create a strong sense of community for serving and ex-service personnel within the business,” she says.
James Shillington, a leader in Frontier’s operations team who also served in the Royal Dragoon Guards for 13 years, notes: “Frontier’s signing the Armed Forces Covenant is heartening to me and other veterans throughout the business. There are many veterans working in the company across diverse roles, and each brings valuable skills that they acquired through service. It is important that we work to continually acknowledge and respect that.
“I’m keen to set up Frontier’s armed forces employee network to help make veterans, serving reservists and military volunteers feel as welcome and supported as possible within Frontier.”
More information on the Armed Services Covenant here and on Frontier’s commitments here.