CHAMBERFORCE RELAUNCH

Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Gold Award holders are partnering up to relaunch the ChamberFORCE project on August 23 in Dunfermline.

ChamberFORCE is a partnership programme between selected Chambers of Commerce in Scotland and local Navy, Army and RAF units, designed to bring tangible benefits to Chamber members and to Defence. Participating Chambers have all signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved ERS Gold Awards.

The founding Chambers of Commerce are Fife Chamber of Commerce, Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce, Moray Chamber of Commerce and Dunbartonshire Chamber of Commerce.

Highland RFCA first launched the initiative in November 2018, with the aim of bringing Chambers of Commerce and Armed Forces Reserve units closer together. Defence Relationship Management (DRM) sponsored the pilot.

ERS Gold Award holder, Amazon, sponsored a virtual leadership event that Fife Chamber hosted in 2020. Having been keen to develop this relationship, Amazon decided to sponsor the next phase of the development and are now official corporate sponsors of ChamberFORCE for the next three years. This will further support the project to deliver the mutual benefits of military and commercial engagement, enabling the participating stakeholders to deliver advocacy for Defence.

The relaunch event will see Amazon senior management and staff visiting tri-service military stands and engaging with Reservists. The event will culminate in a presentation of the sponsorship cheque from Amazon to the participating Chambers, further cementing the link between Defence and business.

One of DRM’s Senior National Account Managers, Tony Blaney, will be in attendance to support the local engagement.

What’s in it for Businesses?

A few of the many benefits are:

• Access to highly-skilled Service Leavers, Reservists and Veterans to strengthen the workforce either as employees, or on temporary work placements.
• FREE leadership and teamwork training for staff via a range of military-led activities and challenges. These activities will develop staff’s confidence, decision-making and resilience.
• Exclusive invitations to key networking events across the UK, including Land and Air Power Combat Demonstrations, Royal Navy ship visits and sea passages, Military Ceremonial Events and tri-service employer visits.
• FREE media and communications support to raise the profile of the business as an Armed Forces friendly employer across national business networks.

Did you know?

• That the Ministry of Defence (MOD) delivers training to every Reservist, every year? This makes Reservists on the workforce multi-skilled and highly adaptable, at no cost to the Business.
• That SME’s can claim monthly financing if their Reservist is mobilised, including training costs and additional salary costs if needed.
• That employers have found having a Reservist on the workforce acts as a positive role model to younger members of staff, impacting positively on colleagues and productivity.

To read the Highland RFCA ChamberFORCE Project Final Report, click HERE