Twelve organisations from the East Midlands have been presented with the Silver Award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme for demonstrating exceptional support for members of the Armed Forces community.
Each business has worked hard to implement an array of Forces-friendly policies to ensure that Reservists, Service-Leavers, Cadet Volunteers, and Military Spouses are not disadvantaged by their service.
By making these changes, these employers are playing their part in what the Government has described as its ‘whole of society’ approach to Defence, in which the public and private sectors, academia and everyday citizens all play their part in national resilience.
The full list of Silver Award winners from the East Midlands is as follows:
- Affinity Flying Services
- Axil
- Barcode Warehouse
- City of Lincoln Council
- Daventry Town Council
- Davidsons Developments
- High Peak Borough Council
- John Deere
- Mitchell Powersystems
- Motorfinity
- RML Group
- Sisters in Service.
The regional winners will formally receive their awards during a ceremony hosted at RAF Digby, Lincolnshire, later this year.
As a result of the commitments made by the 2026 Silver Award holders, in the region of 2,000 additional roles are now certified as Defence-friendly.
Nationally, 331 Silver Award winners have been announced for 2026.
Sterling contributions
Fred Hopkins is the Head of Engagement at East Midlands Reserve Forces and Cadets Association.
His team administers the Ministry of Defence’s Employer Recognition Scheme across Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.
Fred said: “Achieving the Silver Award is a significant accomplishment and demonstrates that a business is serious about playing its part in national Defence and resilience.
“My congratulations and thanks to our 2026 cohort, which represents a breadth and depth of employers across the East Midlands, for their sterling contributions. They are truly leading the way in supporting our people, who add so much value to society.”
In pursuit of Silver
To achieve the Silver Award, an organisation must have first signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved the Bronze Award.
Building on that groundwork, they must evidence how they are supporting Defence. Developing appropriate HR policies to ensure that Reservists and Cadet Volunteers are not disadvantaged in recruitment and employment is key to this.
In addition, the employer must raise awareness of the policies with their staff, support Reservists’ training by providing at least 5 days’ additional leave, and demonstrate support to the Cadet movement.
Nominations are submitted by organisations themselves, validated by the Ministry of Defence, and then judged by a selection board – chaired by a senior military officer – against the criteria.
Since it was launched 10 years ago, hundreds of organisations have achieved the Bronze, Silver or, in the case of the most exceptional Defence Champions, Gold Award.
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