A Fantastic Day at the National Transition Event 2025
Attending the Gold Award Association meeting at the National Transition Event 2025 was truly inspiring. One of the key highlights was hearing from Minister for Veterans & People, Alistair Carns DSO OBE MC MP, at Mission Community’s annual event in Silverstone.
Today’s National Transition Event 2025 at Silverstone brought together veterans, industry leaders, and key stakeholders to discuss and advance career opportunities, business engagement, and support for the armed forces community. Hosted by Mission Community, the event provided a platform for important announcements, networking, and showcasing employment initiatives aimed at veterans and service leavers.
Ministerial Announcement: Expansion of Op ASCEND
One of the most significant moments was the keynote address from Minister for Veterans & People, Alistair Carns DSO OBE MC MP. Speaking to an audience of veterans and business leaders, he announced the expansion of Op ASCEND, a program run by the Forces Employment Charity (FEC) that will now align more closely with the MOD’s Career Transition Partnership (CTP). This initiative will provide enhanced career support, mentorship, and entrepreneurial pathways for veterans, ensuring long-term success beyond their military service.
Minister Carns emphasised:
“This is about delivering a clear, easily accessible offering for veterans. From the time they join, to the time they leave service and beyond, veterans will be empowered to succeed.”
Business Engagement and Veteran Employment
The event saw participation from over 300 businesses, including major companies like McLaren, Amazon, Siemens, JLR, and Centrica, all of whom are actively working to recruit and support veterans. Discussions focused on:
- Enhancing military recruitment pathways
- The value of veterans’ skills in various industries
- Best practices for integrating service leavers into the workforce
Ian Fortune, Head of Pathways at Centrica, highlighted the benefits of hiring veterans:
“With fantastic initiatives like Op ASCEND, we’ve been able to bring in high-calibre service leavers, boosting diversity and fresh thinking in our organisation.”
Inspiring Veteran Stories
A major highlight was hearing from veterans who have successfully transitioned into civilian careers. Sam, a British Army veteran, shared how Op ASCEND’s mentorship and employment events helped him secure a role in the energy sector, emphasising the importance of practical career guidance and networking.
Inspiring Encounters
I was also fortunate to meet an exceptional veteran who competed in the Invictus Games—a true testament to resilience. With the Games set to return to the UK in 2027, their story added a personal, uplifting note to an already remarkable day.
The National Transition Event 2025 at Silverstone was a powerful reminder of the importance of collaboration between government, businesses, and veteran organisations. With Op ASCEND’s expansion, increased corporate engagement, and a shared commitment to supporting service leavers, today’s event reinforced a bright future for veterans looking to transition and thrive in civilian life.
#NTE2025 #VeteranEmployment #OpASCEND #CareerTransition #Silverstone #GoldAwardAssociation #NationalTransitionEvent2025 #GoldAwardAssociation #Veterans #OpASCEND #InvictusGames #CareerTransition
Acres have a range of standard products but also support clients with custom machinery and medium-high volume products such as trolleys, stillages etc.
We have manufactured lots of different tables / workstations / workbenches for various industries.
We also manufacture access platforms, jigs and fixtures and many other types of production support solutions / products.
Talk to us today about your requirements: [email protected] / 01332695240 / Contact Us Form
Click on the icon to check out our social media! Please follow, like and share!
Want to know more about Acres Engineering?
We are based in the UK from our Headquarters in Derbyshire, England and have a European office in Malaga, Spain within the EU.
Find out more about where we have been and what we have been up to by checking out our latest blog posts.
Take a look at how we support of the Armed Forces, STEM/Schools and Charities.
As a world leader in our field, we offer a range of information guides sharing best practice with our clients.
We make it easy to engage with us, we are approved on: EcoVadis (external) / JOSCAR (external) / AVETTA (external) / COUPA (external) / SAP ARIBA (external) / DEEPSTREAM (external) ….you can download our BSI / Insurance certificates here.
