Frontier Agriculture has signed the Armed Forces Covenant at an event in Nottingham in June.

The Covenant is an agreement that formally recognises the company’s commitment to the fair treatment of employees who are Armed Forces veterans, or who are the family of Armed Forces personnel, as well as its commitment to supporting Armed Forces reservists and volunteers in their training and postings.

The Covenant was signed by Frontier’s managing director, Diana Overton, at the business’s Nottingham site and was attended by veterans who work for Frontier as well as employees who currently serve in the reserves and as volunteers.

Also in attendance was Major General Marc Overton CB TD VR Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Reserves & Cadets), UK Defence’s senior army reservist, who is also Diana’s husband.

Speaking at the event Frontier’s managing director, Diana Overton, said:

“At Frontier we work hard to create a diverse and inclusive workplace; one that attracts people with a wide range of experience.

“It is an honour to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and publicly demonstrate our longstanding commitment to the fair treatment of veterans, the families of serving personnel, reservists and volunteers.

“It was also a pleasure to meet our veteran and reservist colleagues within Frontier. It was great to promote their service to the country to the wider business and to help connect them with one another to begin the process of building a strong and supportive network within the company.”

Major General Marc Overton CB TD VR added:

“By signing the Covenant, Frontier has made a strong and visible commitment to the Armed Forces.

“Agriculture and food security are critical parts of national defence, so seeing Frontier being so welcoming and supportive to the armed forces community is of significant importance.”

Sqn Ldr Michelle Nuttall, who is a knowledge exchange manager at Frontier and is also a Cadet Force Adult Volunteer and OC of 644 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, providing gliding experiences for the RAF Air Cadets, said:

“It was fantastic to attend the signing of the Covenant and to see Frontier’s commitment to veterans, reservists, military volunteers and the cadet forces.

"I’m honoured to be setting up Frontier’s armed forces employee network to connect and support veterans and reservists, and to help create a strong sense of community for serving and ex-service personnel within the business.”

James Shillington, who is a leader in Frontier’s operations team and who also served in the Royal Dragoon Guards for 13 years, said:

"Frontier signing the Armed Forces Covenant is heartening to me and other veterans throughout the business. There are many veterans working in the company across diverse roles and each bring valuable skills that they acquired through service; it’s important that we work to continually acknowledge and respect that.

“I’m keen to set up Frontier’s armed forces employee network to help make veterans, serving reservists and military volunteers feel as welcome and supported as possible within Frontier.”

Signing the Covenant also gives Frontier access to the Career Transition Partnership’s Armed Forces talent pool; a recruitment service for Armed Forces personnel who are transitioning into civilian life.

Read Frontier’s commitments in the Covenant here . 

Frontier is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace as part of the People pillar within its Responsible Choice framework .