Compass acknowledged for ongoing support of Armed Forces community at Celebrating Forces Families Awards

Compass Group UK & Ireland was honoured to win the ‘Business Award’ at the fourth annual Celebrating Forces Families Awards. Held at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London on 25th April, the event is dedicated to the incredible contributions, resilience, and achievements of UK Armed Forces families.

In one of only three categories open to businesses, the Compass team won the Business Award, sponsored by Forces Employment Charity, in recognition of the key initiatives that have been implemented in support of the Armed Forces community.

Last year, Compass had its ‘Gold’ revalidated for the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme – having signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2016 and secured Gold status in 2018. In 2022, the organisation launched its Spouses Policy, with commitments including to:

• Provide an additional day of paid leave to support pre or post-deployments of three months or longer.
• Endeavor to redeploy military spouses to an alternative role internally on notification of a spouses posting.
• Recognise and celebrate military spouses on Compass’ company annual Spouses Day through different events.

Compass expanded its impact last year by launching Spouse & Advocacy roundtable events, sharing best practice with other companies to inspire similar initiatives, fostering a growing movement of cross-sector collaboration. Guided by its Armed Forces Committee, Compass continues to lead in supporting military families.

Angela Lewis, Co-Chair of the Armed Forces Network and ESS Strategic Relationship and Contract Governance Solution Lead said: “To win this award is meaningful for our organisation, but most importantly for all the people who are veterans, spouses or reservists. That’s why it was such an inspirational event, with a real sense of community.

“Support for the Armed Forces has remained a mainstay of our business and we continue to work closely with military communities and charities. We are incredibly proud to have won this award. It’s great recognition for the team of volunteers on our Armed Forces committee, who support alongside their ‘day jobs’.”