Today marks a key date in the calendar to celebrate and support the courageous men and women that make up the Armed Forces community, from troops in service and their families back home to veterans and cadets.

Recognising that a lifelong military career is now less common, Atalian Servest is proud to be an active recruiter of ex-forces personnel and has a large ex-forces contingency throughout the business, across security, IT, project management, catering, electrical engineering, logistics and administration. UK military training is respected across the world and ex-forces staff bring a depth of punctuality, determination and resilience to the workplace.

In honour of Armed Forces Day, Steven Moore, MD of Atalian Servest’s security division, is keen to encourage businesses to look beyond qualifications: “It’s the resilient and determined mentality that is imprinted on each serving soldier throughout the course of their training and career that makes them an asset to the corporate workplace.”

Holly Ferneyhough, Business Support Manager, joined Atalian Servest in 2016 after serving eight years in the British Army, where she participated in two tours of Afghanistan with 3 Regt Army Air Corps (AAC). Holly joined The British Army at the age of 19 and while this produced enjoyable times and an unrivalled sense of team spirit, there were periods when Holly was forced outside of her comfort zone: “Experience gained in the Armed Forces whilst, both testing and at times enjoyable, all builds on your core attributes that businesses are now striving for” she explains. Earlier this year, Holly was announced as a finalist in the Rising Star of the Year category at the British Ex-Forces in Business Awards, we wish her the best of luck in the finals taking place in September.

Information Security Manager UK & Ireland Jason Nicholls fulfilled 23 years of exemplary service in the British Army including operational tours of Bosnia in 1995, Kosovo in 1999 and special duties in Northern Ireland in 2003. He also served as a Tactical CIS Warrant Officer in Afghanistan. “All of these experiences leave a scar and harden you in ways you wouldn’t believe possible. You’re always ‘on’ and have to be adaptable to change,” says Jason. These experiences have laid fundamental foundations for his responsibilities in information security at Atalian Servest.

Line managing security officers in the Royal Air Force Police provided Jason Silver with exceptional organisational and management skills and the kind of strong leadership acumen that is essential to his role as Atalian Servest’s Operations Manager, Security.

Atalian Servest’s Chef Manager, Lee Taylor’s catering career started abruptly in the British Army where his taster session was “being left with 220lb of onions and asked to peel them”. Through persistent hard work and a vision for development, Lee rebadged to Army Catering Corps before transitioning to civilian life by securing a Chef Manager position within our specialist education brand Academy, managing the catering service at John Gulson Primary School in Coventry. Lee says: “The Atalian Servest family is like the military family I knew and still love to this day.”

Transition from the Armed Forces to civilian life

It’s well known that the transition from military to civilian life has long been a challenge. There’s a wealth of fears about civilian life, finding work and being able to succeed in a corporate environment.

During his 27 years of service, Army veteran Lee Fricker completed seven tours including The Gulf, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, but the prospect of leaving the Armed Forces was still daunting. Now in the role of General Manager, Logistics and Manufacturing, Lee was fortunate enough to secure his first role after leaving the British Army at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

After his contract finished in September 2012, however, Lee says that he was unemployed for the first time in his life at 43 years old.“Security and stability go when you leave the Army, and you need ambition to succeed,” Lee explains. “You also need to be robust and adopt a realistic approach.” His career in the British Army has undoubtedly made him resilient.

Transferable skills in the corporate world

Armed forces’ lengthy training programmes are intensive and challenging and would be simply unachievable without a sharp mindset and can-do attitude. Having been moulded by strict reporting chains, ex-forces staff are generally good at keeping their finger on the pulse and getting things done without being chased.

“Staying calm under pressure, being proactive and reactive, highly organised, and determined are skills that are engrained in me and contribute so much to my work activity at Atalian Servest,” says David Fotheringham, Business Director, Catering, who previously served 10 years in the British Army.

Ex-military professionals offer a wealth of potential for businesses. Ex-forces staff at Atalian Servest agree that their career in the Armed forces has been instrumental to their success in the corporate environment.