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Complete ‘Boots to Business’ support for Armed Forces Veterans and their families

02/07/2018

In celebration of Armed Forces Week, the University of Wolverhampton’s ‘Supporting the Unsung Hero’ Business start-up programme, Veteran Owned UK and Forces Enterprise Network CIC have announced a collaboration to provide complete business support to the ‘whole’ Armed Forces community.

The collaboration was announced as part of Armed Forces week, the annual national campaign that gives everyone the opportunity to show their support for the men and women of the Armed Forces past and present, including currently serving troops, Service families, Reservists, veterans and cadets.

The University’s ‘Supporting the Unsung Hero’ business start-up programme, in partnership with Forces Enterprise Network, will provide further support to the Armed Forces community by enabling service Veterans to join their award-winning training and mentoring course.

Veteran Owned UK offers support to ex-service personnel who own or are starting-up in business, providing members of the public with a user-friendly directory of veteran owned businesses, networking opportunities and is a key conduit between the University and veteran community.

Sarah Walker, SUH Project Manager says: “Supporting the Unsung Hero has been very successful at providing support and training to spouses of Serving Personnel, Veterans and Reservists. Now with further sponsorship from HSBC we can offer places to transitioning personnel and veterans. Scott and his team at Veteran Owned UK are key to accessing and providing information to such a widely dispersed part of our Armed Forces community.”

Supporting the Unsung Hero is tailored to meet the needs of Armed Forces families, and was one of the original, successful bids to the £35 million LIBOR fund. The programme is in high demand from service spouses and dependants and has received significant investment from HSBC bank to expand the programme throughout the UK and overseas. Since 2014 the programme been delivered in MOD Cyprus, British Forces Germany, MOD Belgium and has extended its reach UK wide from MOD Scotland to HMS Naval Base Portsmouth.

Scott Johnson Founder of Veteran Owned UK says: “Supporting the Unsung Hero is a great asset to the Armed Forces community enabling service veterans to gain the knowledge and guidance needed to make informed and serious business decisions which affect their careers and families. Together we can offer complete support from start-up and beyond.”

For more information please contact Sarah Walker at the University of Wolverhampton’s Business Solutions Centre on 01902 321272 or email: suh@wlv.ac.uk.

Further information 

‘Supporting the Unsung Hero’ is delivered through the University of Wolverhampton’s Business Solutions Centre in conjunction with the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, The Ministry of Defence Hive Information Service, Forces Enterprise Network and is sponsored by HSBC Bank.

Delegates from the Armed Forces Community are offered a dedicated four-day business start-up training programme followed by individual mentoring. They also benefit from a closed online forum to encourage peer support and interaction as well as further online networking via the Forces Enterprise Network CIC and Veteran Owned UK. Further training, seminars and networking opportunities are available via the University’s Business Solutions Centre, Black Country Chamber of Commerce and Forces Enterprise Network.

Veteran Owned UK, is founded by Veteran Scott Johnson a former British Army Royal Engineer. Veteran Owned UK provides support and networking for veterans in business and a public directory listing of its members. For further information visit www.veteran-owned.uk or email info@veteran-owned.uk

For more information please contact the Corporate Communications Team.

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