NHBC Milton Keynes
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 NHBC Milton Keynes 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 NHBC Milton Keynes 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
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- Armed Forces Charities
We also pledge the following:

Promoting the Armed Forces: promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organi-sation, to our staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public. Veterans: supporting the employment of veterans into a civilian career, recognising transfera-ble military skill, experience and qualifications. supporting the employment of veterans, recog-nising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process; working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support the employment of Service leavers; Reserves: supporting our employees who are members of the Reserve Forces; granting addi-tional 5 days paid leave for annual Reserve Forces training and supporting any mobilisations and deployment. Service Spouses & Partners: supporting the employment of Service spouses and partners; providing flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partners deployment. Mentoring: we offer support through mentoring schemes that is open to all employees. Men-toring programmes support the mentees growth and development, personally and profession-ally. The mentor will support, guide, and help their mentee develop by sharing their achieve-ments, wisdom, knowledge, and experience. Recruitment and selection process: supporting the employment of all members of the armed forces community. We commit, under this scheme that any applicant who is supported under the armed forces covenant; upon application must be invited to attend an interview should they meet the minimum essential criteria for a role advertised. Partnerships: We partner with; Forces Families Job Forum, the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), Buildforce and Forces families. Our partners support us with local and national vacancies, job matching, advertising and have a candidate notification service. We advertise our vacancies with our partners and attend various events, such as careers fairs and insight days. Cadet Organisations: supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet or-ganisations, granting additional 5 days paid leave to attend annual training camps and courses; actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations; supporting local military cadet units; recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce. National Events: supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Re-membrance activities. Armed Forces Charities: supporting Armed Forces charities with fundraising and supporting staff who volunteers to assist. Advocacy: sharing best practice with other employers and being advocates for the Armed Forc-es Covenant and the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme by offering support to organisa-tions within our supply chain and who are partners seeking to demonstrating their commitment to the Armed Forces. Development: offering opportunities for those within the Armed Forces to progress their pro-fessional qualifications or apprenticeship. Aspirational work: We are working on creating an Armed Forces network for members of our armed forces community. This will be a voluntary, employee-led group, providing a safe, sup-portive space for under-represented people and their allies and that help our organisation be a greater, more inclusive place to work.

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.