Sunbelt Rentals, the UK’s leading equipment rental business was thrilled to pick up the prestigious MOD‘s Gold Armed Forces Covenant Award on Thursday 3rd November, during a formal award ceremony in Wilmslow.
This highly coveted award is given to companies following an intense application process and scrutiny by an MOD selection board, chaired by a senior military officer. Gold status is awarded to companies considered ‘exemplar’ within their market sector, having proven support to not only defence service personnel and veterans, but to reservists, cadet force adult volunteers, service family members and partner organisations.
Speaking about Sunbelt Rentals’ delight in receiving Gold Andy Wright, Sunbelt Rentals’ Chief Executive said, “We are delighted to have been awarded Gold Employer Recognition Status by the MOD. The Veteran community is integral to our workforce and this award is testament to the hard work and commitment from both our own team and the external teams that we work with in this critical area. For us, transitioning Veterans into our business makes perfect sense, as they bring readymade knowledge and expertise; tenacity; resilience and the ability to work collectively within a team to deliver results. We are delighted to have been recognised, at the highest level, for our work in this area.”
Mick Ledden, Managing Director, Energy Solutions at Sunbelt Rentals, and Royal Navy Veteran explained what the award means to the business, commenting “Being awarded the Gold Covenant award makes a clear statement to both veterans and serving personnel, that Sunbelt Rentals stand with them, and that we want to offer an exciting and meaningful career path in achieving their current and future career endeavours. Our Sunbelt Veterans Community offers a home-from-home, and we’re keen to recruit many more veterans over the coming months and years as we achieve our exciting growth plans”.
Sunbelt Rentals has so far identified over 110 veterans within the business, many of whom have volunteered to help develop a vibrant community. Paul Urey, Information Security Risk and Compliance Manager and Sunbelt’s British Armed Forces Veteran Ambassador said “The achievement of the Gold Award shows the intent and investment that Sunbelt has given not only to the veterans that it employs, but also to the veteran community as a whole. I am immensely proud to work for an organisation that not only understands the sacrifices of those serving in the armed forces, but also the transferrable skills that they learn that make them valuable employees.”
Ben Jenkins, Regional SHEQ Manager and Royal Marines Commando Ambassador said “Having recently left the forces, I was apprehensive about how I would fit into an organisation outside of the MOD. I feel that Sunbelt Rentals delivers and encourages the values and standards ingrained from my time in the military.”
These thoughts were echoed by Steve Cartwright, HGV Driver and RAF Ambassador. Steve says, “I was full of trepidation at leaving the RAF after 37 years. I consider myself very lucky in finding Sunbelt Rentals as my first employer after leaving. The sense of belonging and the appreciation I feel from the company as whole are something I really didn’t think I would encounter in my civilian employment life.
Jackie Cuthbert, Social Impact Director at Sunbelt Rentals said “We are fully committed to becoming the ‘go to’ place in our sectors for service leavers and veterans and welcome speculative applications for roles such as engineers, drivers, project managers, digital IT & cyber security across the UK.
We are working closely with our colleagues in North America to develop world-class Global Veterans Programme, to help us resource, recruit, recognise and retain our veterans as key members of our team going forward”.
