AtkinsRéalis
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-10)

We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.

The Armed Forces Covenant

An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant

1.1 We AtkinsRéalis will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment

2.1 AtkinsRéalis recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- Armed Forces Charities
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:

Demonstrating our commitment at the highest levels of the company Ensuring that our Armed Forces community will continue to be one of our employee resource groups in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion network, sponsored by the Operational Leadership Group and with direct access to the President UK&I. Continuing to undertake our Partnering with the Armed Forces programme to co-ordinate our company-wide UK Armed Forces engagement and advocacy activities. This programme represents a commitment at the highest levels of the company of resources, money, time and people actively to advance the pledges in our Covenant. Continuing to support our Armed Forces Champion, who represents the interests of our Armed Forces Community across the UK and drives the Partnering with the Armed Forces programme. Promoting that we are an Armed Forces friendly organisation Continuing to promote that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation to our employee, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public. Support national events such as Armed Forces Week, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal and Remembrance activities. Continuing to publicise our commitment to the Covenant, our support for the Armed Forces and membership of the Reserves across our UK business using all appropriate internal and external communications channels. We will provide guidance and good practice, for our staff, especially line managers, on the Armed Forces Community. Continuing to demonstrate our advocacy of the Armed Forces by maintaining our Gold Award under the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme which we have held since 2015. Undertaking Corporate-level charitable activity with veteran organisations and charities, outside of wider marketing and client engagement activity. We will encourage staff members to engage with and support local Armed Forces charities, for example, by supporting their fundraising activities. Supporting the employment of members of the Armed Forces Community Continuing to support the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process, by advertising company vacancies through the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), the Forces Employment Charity (FEC) and other veteran resettlement and transitional organisations, as appropriate, to encourage and enable the recruitment of members of the Armed Forces Community. Guaranteeing that every Armed Forces Community candidate who applies for a role with AtkinsRéalis will have access to advice and mentoring prior to proceeding to any subsequent interview upon request. Interview feedback will also be provided to all candidates, whether successful or not, upon request. Continuing to work with and support third-party organisations, such as BuildForce and Forces Transition Group, to assist Service leavers and military spouses to find appropriate employment in AtkinsRéalis. Supporting the employment of Service spouses, partners and dependants by continuing to work with Forces Families Jobs and Recruit for Spouses; endeavouring to offer short-notice leave to those whose partners are sent on deployment; and working with the tri-Service Families Federations. We will work with relevant charities and the Career Transition Partnership to offer work opportunities to the wounded, injured and sick. We will offer work placements, insight days, and mentoring schemes to veterans and other Armed Forces Community members seeking employment. Supporting our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve Forces Actively encouraging our employees to become Reservists. Enabling employees who are active members of the part-time Reserve Forces to maintain their annual training commitments by providing ten days of special paid time away from work each year. We will also positively consider requests for unpaid leave by Reservists to enable additional training. Actively supporting mobilisations (including smart mobilisation) and the operational deployments of Reservists. Encouraging any Reservist in our business to participate fully in the annual Armed Forces Reserves Day. Introducing our staff to the benefits of Reserve service and seek to provide soft skills development and stretch experiences for our early careers and other staff through interaction with Armed Forces Reserves units, such as the Royal Engineers’ Works Groups in 12 Engineer Group. Supporting members of the Armed Forces Community Continuing to support the AtkinsRéalis Armed Forces Community, offering support to our employees as well as their families; encouraging them to meet and support one another locally face to face or virtually, and to provide feedback to senior leadership through our Partnering with the Armed Forces programme. Recognising the demands and pressures on Service families, particularly those caused by the requirements for mobility and the deployment of serving military personnel (both Regular and Reserves) and considering ways in which remote-working solutions might benefit the mobile Armed Forces Community, especially partners and spouses. Furthermore, we will endeavour to be flexible in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment. Signposting members of the Armed Forces Community to available support, for example, from the Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO), various official veterans’ services or statutory services across the UK; and promoting the dedicated healthcare services for members of the Armed Forces Community, such as Op COURAGE in England and its equivalents in the other home nations. Providing guidance and support to line managers to ensure they are able to manage such issues effectively as well as understand all community members better. Committing to the Pride in Veterans Standard (PiVS) to demonstrate our commitment to being inclusive and welcoming to LGBT+ Veterans, Reservists, and their families. Engaging with our local Armed Forces footprint for example, local Army unit, RAF stations and naval bases. Supporting to Military Cadets and education Encouraging and supporting our employees who are Cadet Force Adult Volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations through our volunteering procedure which allows 2 days paid leave per year for volunteering roles. Supporting a range of cadet activities, in particular Combined Cadet Force (CCF) units in selected STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) focused schools across the UK. This activity will complement our existing STEM engagement and ambassadorship activity. Leading by example Assisting other UK organisations with their Reservist and Veteran engagement programmes by sharing best practice and learning from our experience. This will include mentoring these organisations through the Armed Forces Covenant process and getting to Gold in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. Continuing to support the Gold Award Association at the national and regional levels, such as in the Wessex Region. Supporting regional Reserve Forces and Cadet Associations (appropriate to our resources and footprint) in order to improve local linkages and employer engagement with cadets and Reserve units. Encouraging employees to consider using some of their volunteer days to assist in the upkeep of war memorials and war graves. Supporting the Whole Force Approach Supporting the Ministry of Defence’s Engineer and Logistic Staff Corps by providing access to engineering advice from across the full range of AtkinsRéalis capabilities and services. Continuing to evolve our partnering agreement with the RE Works Groups in 12 Engineering Group. Committing to the flexible employment of all types of Reservists in support of the Whole Force Approach and actively participate in Ministry of Defence and industry initiatives to address skills gaps across the UK Defence enterprise. Supporting veteran transitional housing Investigating the potential to develop a veteran village in partnership with local authorities, Service charities and registered providers using our innovative EDAROTH (Everyone Deserves a Roof Over Their Head) end-to-end affordable housing development approach.

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.