The gold standard

Wood is a proud supporter of the armed forces and on 12 November 2019, received the prestigious Gold Award in the UK Ministry of Defence’s Employer Recognition Scheme in recognition of its ongoing commitment to and advocacy for defence and the armed forces community.  Andy Ewens, Wood’s global armed forces network sponsor tells us more.

Andy Ewens
Wood’s global armed forces
network sponsor

“Securing the Gold Award is fantastic recognition for our efforts to be a forces-friendly organisation, but we won’t be resting on our laurels”, says Andy.  A military veteran himself, Andy has worked for Wood for over a decade since joining in 2009.  Alongside his career in industry Andy had an impressive parallel military career in the Territorial Army since being commissioned into the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in 1987.

Talking about the importance Wood places on supporting current and former military personnel and their families, Andy says “Our commitment is steadfast, we recognise the great qualities and transferable skills those from the armed forces community have and the vital role they play in many of our teams across Wood every day.

We will continue to proactively seek out opportunities to share best practice, lessons learned and collaborate with defence and other armed forces-friendly organisations to ensure we are leading the way as we expand our Armed Force Network and defence engagement globally”.

Best of both worlds

For those that choose to be members of the reserve forces or are adult cadet volunteers in the UK, Wood provides up to two weeks of paid leave each year to attend training, in addition to their annual leave.  Gemma Bowers, Captain in the REME Reserves and Principal Project Engineer in Wood says “Being a Reservist gives me the best of both worlds – a challenging civilian engineering career alongside the opportunity to learn new skills and ‘give back’ in the military environment. I’m lucky and privileged that Wood recognises the benefit of my military-learned skills in my civilian engineering career. The Army benefits from Wood’s support and I’m able to use my leadership and problem-solving skills in my role as a project engineer.”

Joining forces

“Our Armed Forces Network brings together people from across Wood who are members of the armed forces community, including veterans, reservists, cadet volunteers and their families. Since its inception in 2017, the network has gone from strength to strength and we now have more than 200 members, in over 20 countries that we operate in, which is fantastic”, says Andrew Warren, British Army veteran, Wood’s UK Armed Forces Network Chair and Area Project Engineer for Utilities, Power and Infrastructure on INEOS Project One.

“The network is fully inclusive and open to anyone to join even if they don’t have a military connection but want to support the armed forces and its community or simply find out more. It provides a space for our people to connect and network, support those who choose to join us and help them successfully transition into Wood, and also get involved with our defence engagement and advocacy in a way that works for them”.

Using skills honed in the military and mega-projects for Wood, many Armed Forces Network members were instrumental in helping Wood secure the Gold Award. Talking about this achievement, Andrew said: “Wood’s Gold Award was the only one that moved directly from Bronze to Gold level from 47 Companies who applied. Even more incredible is that ours was also the only successful direct application in three years. This is another tremendous achievement from the team in such a short and focussed space of time.”

If you’re interested in finding out about the network or working at Wood contact forces@woodplc.com to connect with one of our Armed Forces Network members.