Today is Reserves Day, an opportunity for the UK to celebrate and salute our Reserve Forces.
Reservists give up their spare time to serve in the Reserve Forces, balancing their civilian life with a military career to ensure that should their country require them, they would be ready to serve as part of the military.
Arcanum benefits hugely from employing serving Reservists and Veterans, as a result we have policies and processes in place to ensure Reservists employed by Arcanum get the best out of their services. We proactively demonstrate our forces-friendly credentials as part of our recruiting process and provide additional leave for Reservist employees. Arcanum are proud to hold the Gold Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Award. Gold is the scheme’s highest level and recognises employers who actively support the Armed Forces community.
Meet Chris, a Reservist employed at Arcanum:
“It seems a lifetime ago when I joined the Army back in 2009. It remains to this day one of the best decisions I ever made. I served for 13 years which provided me with numerous skills including management, leadership and critical thinking. As well as developing me professionally it provided so much more. As a relatively fresh-faced young lad from rural Yorkshire, I was able to travel and live in parts of the world I could never have imagined. Regular deployments provided challenges, rewards and experiences which are not available in any other walk of life. As well as this my service allowed me to meet some wonderful, driven, and interesting people who helped shape the person I am today.
Although I will always remain a soldier at heart, after having a family I gradually realised that my priorities shifted, and it was time to make a change. It was only on leaving the army that I actually realised how well the military had developed me and provided me with skills attractive to a range of employers. Spending most of my military career in security, risk management and information security Arcanum was a natural fit. A big draw in joining the Arcanum team was the number of employees who were Veterans and the ethos and professionalism which was instantly familiar to me as one of the best aspects of military life.
Before I left the Army, I was already keen to join the Reserves. Arcanum is a great supporter of its employees in the Reserves, and this was made evident from day one. On leaving regular service I joined 52 Coy in Gateshead. Being something of a nerd I have always enjoyed the analytical aspects of intelligence work and the Reserves has allowed me to lead sections in producing products which are used daily by the Regular Army. Transitioning from Army life to mainly working from home was certainly a big change for me. As well as interesting work, the Reserves allow me to immerse myself in the camaraderie and social aspects of army life. Drill night is a night I really look forward to every week. My Reserve unit has many ex-regulars with similar backgrounds to me, as well as those with other interesting roles in civilian life. The opportunities available for Reservists are huge and varied, be it meeting interesting people, challenging work, or travelling overseas for exercises or adventure training. I would recommend it to anyone, and for companies the benefits of the continuous training the reserves can provide their employees is priceless.”
We are extremely proud of our Reservists here at Arcanum, and we would like to thank all Reservists across the UK for their dedication, professionalism and commitment to serving our country.