Barden UK supports local Armed Forces personnel

Precision bearing manufacturer The Barden Corporation (UK) Ltd has pledged its support to the Armed Forces community by signing the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Armed Forces Covenant is a pledge from a business to those who serve, or who have served, and their families, that it will do all it can to ensure they are treated fairly and are not disadvantaged in their day-to-day lives.

The signing of the Armed Forces Covenant took place on Friday 20th April 2018 at the Barden UK plant in Estover, Plymouth.

On the day, Jon Everett, Managing Director at Barden UK and his senior management team welcomed Johnny Mercer, Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Moor View, to the plant to co-sign the Covenant on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

As well as his MP duties, Johnny Mercer is also a best-selling author, a well-respected member of the Parliamentary Defence Committee and is an ex-military serviceman.

After meeting the Barden UK management team, Johnny Mercer was given a company overview presentation by Jon Everett, followed by a tour of the shop floor and offices by Plant Manager Damien Dunne.

Jon Everett commented: “As an ex-military serviceman myself, I know how hard the transition from Armed Forces to civilian life can be. We believe that signing the Covenant is the right thing to do – to promote the fact that Barden UK is an Armed Forces-friendly business and to pledge our support in helping to look after these people and their families, whether they are serving personnel, regulars, reservists or veterans.

“We will also work closely with the Career Transition Partnership to actively seek to employ service veterans, young or old, who possess the transferable skills that we are looking for in our Plymouth plant.

“ We will also support our employees in raising money for charities that help Service members or provide medical or social support to ex-Service personnel.”

Johnny Mercer commented: “With the city of Plymouth having such a rich military history and the work Barden does supporting the UK aerospace and defence industry, it’s great to see the company recognises and values the contribution that local military personnel and their families are making to our local economy and community.