JLR CEO, Dr Ralf Speth, accepted the award on behalf of the company. He was joined by Matthew Malley, one of the 200 ex-service personnel hired by the automotive manufacturer since 2013.
Dr Speth said: “We at Jaguar Land Rover are immensely proud to have signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant and to be recognised through this award.
“Service leavers are an excellent talent pool for Jaguar Land Rover and our supply chain, with skills that are transferable to an advanced manufacturing environment. We believe that there is a close alignment between our company’s own values and attitudes and the unstoppable persistence of Armed Forces veterans.”
Veteran Matthew Malley explained what the company’s approach meant for him: “I was wounded in action and subsequently medically discharged during my second operational tour in Afghanistan. I was then told my army career was over, which for me was my life. After a month-long specially-tailored work placement at Jaguar Land Rover, I got a job with their site services, where I fit right in. I couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome.”
The work placement programme is run in conjunction with Mission Motorsport and the Ministry of Defence's Career Transition Partnership (Assist) to help wounded, injured and sick former servicemen and women find a fulfilling second career.
It is just one of the company’s initiatives to boost employment for those leaving the Armed Forces, which also include a training scheme to tackle high unemployment among early service leavers, offering sector-based training, work experience and job interview training.
The tailored programmes build on the company’s ongoing work with the Career Transition Partnership, through which JLR employs veterans. The company also encourages its supply chain to recruit service leavers and recommending candidates to its suppliers. And it assists its reservists with paid leave for training and encourages an ex-Forces society, which this year co-ordinated Armed Forces Day and Reserves Day celebrations.
Having been the presenting partner for the inaugural Invictus Games in 2014, JLR has pledged to support the games in this way again in 2016.
