Soldiering On Into Business

Each year, the Soldiering On Awards – the overarching awards for the Armed Forces community – bring together the military family to recognise and celebrate the achievements of remarkable individuals and organisations.

Among the Finalists for the 2024 Awards are some very special business owners.

Within the 12 Soldiering On Awards categories, three are dedicated to business: the Business Start-Up Award, the Business Scale-Up Award, and the Business Community Impact Award. Common to each of these categories are the enterprising spirit, innate creativity, and bold endeavour than lie at the heart of the military ethos.

Starting, scaling, and sustaining a successful business is not for the fainthearted – as even the most experienced entrepreneurs will concede. However, as Goethe famously stated: Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. So, let’s meet some inspiring individuals who have boldly ‘gone for it’.

The Business Start-Up Award, in partnership with GKN Aerospace, honours an individual or group of individuals linked with the Armed Forces community who have started a successful new business venture within the last two years and who still retain a minimum of 50% interest.

Meet the enterprising finalists:

• The story of We Are Bert Ltd began in 2022 when veteran Andy Laverton’s battle with poor mental health saw him seek solace in his garage, crafting scrap into whimsical robot sculptures. It is now an online retail outlet for ‘The Berts’ and the inspiration for a children’s book penned by Lorraine which encourages children to combine Art into STEM and embrace environmental stewardship.
• When Chris Shaw left the Royal Marines he focused all his energy on networking and forging relationships outside the military with veterans already employed. Like any selfless Marine, Chris thought about his colleagues coming through the same process and wanted to help make sure that the power of the network he had made was available to others. Thus, The Gen Dit Network was born.
• The Chocolate Soldier provides exquisite handmade chocolates, to order, through an e-commerce shop, wholesale to restaurants, cafes, hotels, and military dinner nights, as well as bespoke ‘white label’ boxes for onward sale. The company uses high quality, ethically sourced, raw ingredients to create amazing feasts for the eyes, nose, and taste buds.

Learn more about the Business Start-Up Award Finalists

The Business Scale-Up Award, in partnership with LSEG Foundation, honours people linked with the Armed Forces community who started a successful new business venture more than two years ago and who retain a minimum 50% interest.

Meet the entrepreneurial finalists:

• AlphaOne Electrics Ltd was founded by RAF veteran Daniel Sylvester during the pandemic in 2021, and in 2023 he was joined by his Air Force colleague Dion Sutherns. As former RAF Communications Specialists their journey from ‘comrades in arms to business partners’ was paired with a shared passion for innovation and sustainability.
• TIB Services is a specialist school estates recruiter committed to assisting veterans with their resettlement into rewarding, flexible employment. Providing site managers, caretakers, and maintenance staff to schools across the UK, TIB’s operatives are predominantly over 50.
• Despite the sudden changes brought by the pandemic, Ryan Evans took the self-employment plunge in 2020 that saw the creation of MK Loft Boarding Ltd. With determination, Ryan seized the initiative to build his own business, and within three years it evolved from a one-man band to 14 employees and a projected turnover this year of £1M.

Learn more about the Business Scale-Up Award Finalists

The Business Community Impact Award, in partnership with Cisco, honours an individual or group of individuals linked with the Armed Forces community who are running a business, charity or social enterprise that has a made a significant positive impact on the lives of people within that community.

Meet the community-focused finalists:

• Brendan Williams, Founder and CEO of Building Heroes has shown profound insight into the Armed Forces community’s ethos and the construction industry’s demands. The charity’s impact is evidenced by a 99% pass rate and 73% of graduates transitioning into employment or further training, and social value of £21,000 per graduate.
• e50K CIC provides essential employability skills training and wellbeing programmes for the Defence community, delivered by a team with lived experience as military spouses, veterans, or both.
• Veteran Retreat Club CIC harnesses the invaluable lessons and skills acquired through military service to create resources of support and healing for veterans, with a deeply emotional connection inherent in their work. Their retreats are not ‘nice-to do’ events; they’re profound journeys of healing, camaraderie, and reset.

Learn more about the Business Community Impact Award Finalists