County veterans ‘have skills to boost local industry’ says minister

Herefordshire’s “huge” ex-armed forces population can help the county’s defence and other industries meet the growing challenges the UK faces, a government minister has said.

Minister for veterans Al Carns said the county’s veterans “have a huge amount of talent and skill, which sometimes gets lost when they leave the military”.

Leadership and teamwork, as well as technical specialisms, “are hugely valuable to industry”, the Birmingham Selly Oak MP said, and he urged small businesses in particular to “dock into” the Forces Employment Charity’s Operation Ascend, “to connect with veterans who have really useful skills”.

Having previously spent time in the county during his own forces career, the minister said that a quarter of Herefordshire’s population has some connection to the armed forces. And while there are over 9,000 veterans registered in the county, “you could probably double that”.

He was addressing forces and industry figures at Hereford’s NMITE, the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering, which champions ties with local employers, and lies within the Rotherwas enterprise zone which includes several defence-related firms.

Local MP Jesse Norman, a champion of the institute which opened in 2021, said: “We want to be here for people in this county who want to improve their skills.

“And of course we want to work with businesses that support our military personnel who are a phenomenal resource of talent. The day you leave service is not the day you cease to be of immense value to your country and community.”

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, who as part of the previous government launched the Ministry of Defence’s first drones strategy, told ex-services personnel and others looking to skill up: “Your country needs you.”

“We live in serious times but that brings opportunities,” he said.

“The battlefield is changing and we have to embrace technology like never before. Yet the most important capability of the armed forces will still be people, who will need skills as never before.”

NMITE has meanwhile signed a memorandum of understanding with the digital intelligence division of UK multinational BAE Systems, the latest in a series of industry partnerships.

NMITE president and chief executive James Newby said the move would “help ensure that the UK’s future engineering workforce is industry-ready sooner”.