Congratulations to Rachael Smith, our Head of HR – Strategy & Transformation, who was named Role Model of the Year at the British Forces in Business Awards 2025.
Rachael picked up her award in front of 1,200 business and military leaders who had gathered in the Great Room of Grosvenor House in London to celebrate the huge value service leavers add to our economy in their second careers.
Her award recognises former servicemen and women who have transitioned successfully to the business world and been a strong and effective role model to other service leavers in the last 18 months.
After serving in the Army for ten years, Rachael joined us as HR Business Partner 13 years ago and has progressed to become an important member of the senior leadership team, driving major business transformations through excellent leadership, meticulous programme management and sound commercial acumen.
She has also been the driving force behind our commitment to ensuring we are a place where veterans can thrive and was instrumental in the creation of our veterans’ network, which acts as an important advisory to the Board, telling them what matters most to our veterans and how we can best support them.
In addition, she has been key to bringing into the business several veterans over the last 12 months and acts as a mentor to new starters joining from a forces background, offering them formal support from day one. Rachael also encouraged the business to support Reservists service through formal policy creation and led our accreditation process for the Armed Forces Covenant.
Congratulating Rachael, Mike Hickson, Managing Director of Defence, said: “This award is hugely well-deserved and reflects the incredible commitment and effort Rachel has put in to making SRM a veteran-friendly landing place. Rachael has transformed how the veteran community is viewed at Sir Robert McAlpine and she is a fantastic role model for what a veteran can achieve in their second career. Her passion and enthusiasm shines through and it was great to see this recognised by the judging panel.”
CEO Neil Martin, who sponsors our Veterans Network, added: “Rachael is a fantastic ambassador, both for Sir Robert McAlpine and the veterans’ community as a whole. I’d like to add my personal congratulations and thank her for all she does to advocate for ex-service personnel within the business. She is a truly worthy recipient of this award.”
We have been awarded the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Silver Award, which recognises employers who have shown exceptional support to the Armed Forces community, including reservists, veterans and military families.
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