Our commitment to those who serve

In the UK, part of this includes our commitment to support the armed forces and defence communities as we recognise the benefits and value that employing these personnel brings to our organisation.

To demonstrate our support for this community, we signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2017.  The covenant is the nation’s promise to ensure that those who serve in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly.

Our pledges include:

• To support the employment of veterans, young and old, service spouses and partners

• To offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for service spouses and partners, before, during and after a partner’s deployment

• To support employees who choose to be members of the Reserve Forces, including accommodating their training and deployment, where feasible

Making pledges is one thing – but acting on them is another. 

Organisations that sign the covenant are tiered bronze, silver, gold & platinum.  Because Kuehne+Nagel goes above and beyond in being armed forces-friendly it has achieved the gold award.  This includes using a dedicated recruitment specialist who engages with the British Forces Resettlement Services (BFRS) and the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) in the recruitment of service leavers and registers for the Forces Families Jobs (FFJ) portal.

In addition, we ensure that a number of military mentors are available across the business.  Their role is to act as non-judgemental sources of advice and encouragement, who can also acknowledge any influences outside of work that may affect someone’s performance and communicate these to the business, if needed.

As a large organisation, we have more than 100 sites throughout the UK, across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We offer hundreds of jobs over a wide range at all levels, including warehouse operatives, drivers, team leaders, managers and head office roles (IT, HR, finance and procurement to name a few).

Our financially secure, stable and independent position makes it an ideal organisation to employ service leavers and encourage reservists. 

Andy Watt, Kuehne+Nagel’s dedicated armed forces recruitment partner says, “We often hire across the UK, and can be found at most Military Careers Fairs. I’d really encourage anyone who is looking for a career outside of the armed forces to consider us, as we truly value the incredible skill set that Armed Forces personnel have.  We make a great effort to find them suitable opportunities.”

Neil Oakley, Senior Operations Manager, MOD Donnington, Kuehne+Nagel, says:

"Working within the Royal Logistics Corp for 24 years before joining Kuehne+Nagel four years ago, I was well prepared for the logistics environment, especially aerospace and defence.  With good guidance, I’ve moved from junior manager roles to my current senior managerial role.  It’s good that my previous experience has been put to good use here, in commercial logistics.  I’ve even recently been supporting at the armed forces Careers Fair where I was keen to recommend Kuehne+Nagel to serving staff and fellow veterans."

Another employee, also ex-Royal Logistics Corp, said this of his experience working as a shift manager:

“I have told a lot of friends about Kuehne+Nagel, describing the overall recruitment process and the type of company it is. It is very professional and the training and support has been second to none; it is challenging but with that comes lots of opportunities. I couldn’t have wished for a better start to my civilian career. I do hope to stay with Kuehne+Nagel for as long as possible and I can’t recommend the company highly enough.”

Find out about careers at Kuehne+Nagel