Antac are extremely proud to have been awarded the Ministry of Defences’ Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award 2021. The scheme recognises the support provided to Reservists, Veterans, Cadet Force Adult Volunteers, spouses/partners and the wider Armed Forces community.
To be considered for a Silver award, organisations must demonstrate the following:
- Have in place supportive HR policies for employees who are Veterans, Reservists, and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers, as well as spouses and partners of those serving in the Armed Forces.
- Advocate the benefits of supporting those within the Armed Forces community by encouraging others to sign the Armed Forces Covenant and engage in the Employer Recognition Scheme.
- Provide 5 extra days leave for Reservists.
Antac provide premium support services to meet the varying challenges of our clients’ needs. Our customer care programmes are designed to provide a safe, pleasant and efficient working environment for our clients and their staff. Our business has been built on an ethos of customer satisfaction, while being an employer of choice. Our services include Hard Facilities Management, Projects, Mechanical, Electrical and HVAC services along with, Window and Commercial cleaning solutions.
Our nomination for the Armed Forces Silver Award were based around some of the following categories:
Support for Reservists
We deliver maintenance services to the Ministry of Defence in Hampshire, Berkshire, London and are very privileged to see first-hand some of the ceremonial duties and training that takes place. Antac encourage our employees to register and our recruitment policy actively supports anyone wishing to join Antac to maintain their membership as a Reservist. As a company we have always appreciated the work our Armed Forces have provided throughout wars, conflicts and campaigns.
Recently reservists have played a vital role during this difficult time in the Pandemic, supporting the building of Nightingale Hospitals and Covid Testing. This shows the diversity and resilience of Her Majesties Armed Forces with the reservists having great depth of flexibility, training and support, for a range of projects that they are selected to undertake.
We currently have one reservist in our work force, Scott Walker.
Scott Walker signed up to the RAF Regiment, his Grandfather was part of the RAF therefore the love of the forces was subsequently passed down to Scott. However, it was not until Scott started working at Antac that it sparked his interest in applying as a reservist. The nature and location of his work within the Mechanical & Electrical Division at Antac allowed his paths to cross with reservists at RAF Northolt which encouraged him to enrol.
Support for those within the Armed Forces community
Over the last few years Antac have been been actively involved in supporting the Armed Forces community wherever posssibe, some examples of this include but are not limited to; Veterans programmes, volunteer days, charities and supportive HR policies.
Examples in detail:
In December 2020 Stephen Burton, Managing Director was approached by Amey Defence Services about supporting an Open University disabled veteran. The presentation showed the challenges disabled veterans have after recuperating from their injuries, learning to live with their disability and essentially needing to study to gain new skills to find alternative work opportunities. Stephen was genuinely moved by the work that Open University has done to enable disabled veterans to retrain and agreed to sponsor a placement at Open University, starting September 2021.
In addition, Antac help with many volunteer days, an example of one is as follows.
The project brief ‘a retired RAF Veteran was in need of help as he was not able to cope with the overgrowth and brambles in his back garden meaning he was trapped in his house’. Antac, along with other suppliers, mobilised with a large team to lay a patio, provide new outside water point for hose and sprinkler, two raised flower beds, a security light, and a new lean-to shelter with power point for mobility scooter. The finished lawn was laid with turf and new garden furniture was purchased comprising of table, chair and settee.
Antac are proud to have achieved the Silver Recognition Award and will continue our journey of support for the Armed Forces community.