Bushboard has used a specialist ex-military job seekers agency to recruit new staff. The company has taken on four new members of staff across the company.
HR manager Lindy Tegg said: “We used an agency that specialises in ex-military job seekers. We find that ex-forces people are committed, hard-working, self-motivated and happy to take a high level of responsibility – all qualities as important to us at Bushboard as they are to HM Forces.”
Former RAF weapons engineer, Lee Palmer, has been appointed as a quality engineer for Bushboard. He served for over 20 years carried out tours in combat zones including Northern Ireland, The Falklands and Afghanistan.
Palmer said: “Working on complex and demanding projects for the Harrier squadron, bomb disposal and engineering ejection seats was an amazing and challenging career. It’s great to know Bushboard recognise the value of such high-quality, but transferable skills.”
Alan Ball, now a technical manager and was an advanced Javelin [a guided shoulder-launched missile] system operator in the artillery.d
“I was very fortunate to never fire this in anger,” said Ball. “I was based in Germany and England during my three-and-a-half years in the army. Being in the army gave me discipline and strength and loyalty in my early years and these qualities are still are a strong part of my life today and are positives that I can bring to my job.”
Samuel Gorf was in the Royal Navy as a weapons engineer, and now he has joined Bushboard as maintenance engineer. He served with the navy for eight years and looked after sonar, radar and communications systems on four different ships – and sailed on anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden. “His job in the navy called for incredible attention to detail – a quality we value here at Bushboard,” said Tegg.
Gary Bannister spent 16 years with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and was automotive production manager in charge of a workshop with a staff of 12 and supporting a medical unit on deployments around the world.
Bushboard felt that his experience and the level of responsibility it entailed would make him the ideal candidate for the post of lean practitioner – a job that involves spending time in all departments making sure that processes and procedures are in place and that everything is running as smoothly as it can.
- Pictured left to right: Gary Bannister, Lee Palmer, Alan Ball, and Samuel Gorf.