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The Armed Forces Covenant

An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty鈥檚 Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant

1.1 We FirstBound Limited will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:

• no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
• and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.

Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment

2.1 FirstBound Limited recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:

• Armed Forces Friendly
• UK Service Veterans And Leavers
• UK Reservists
• Armed Forces Day
• Reserve Forces Day
• Armed Forces Charities
• UK Wounded, Injured And Sick

We also pledge the following:

• We will work closely with Defence Relationship Management (DRM) to develop a mutually beneficial relationship between our business and the Armed Forces community.

FirstBound is committed to playing a leading role in strengthening veteran entrepreneurship across the UK. We will: - Actively seek to support veterans to create and scale 500 new UK businesses within five years.

• Provide staged support for veterans building and scaling early-stage businesses from validation to growth, including investor readiness and introductions to external, independent capital networks and partners.

• Provide access to education and training for current members of the Armed Services and veterans on starting, building and scaling businesses, alongside broader entrepreneurship topics.

• Facilitate access to experienced mentors who can provide relevant advice and guidance.

• Facilitate introductions to technology product companies, business services providers and corporates critical to early-stage growth.

Strategic Engagement and Collaboration: - We will actively engage with the UK Government to enhance the 鈥淐ontribute鈥� track of the UK Veterans Strategy, with a focus on better enabling veteran founders and veteran entrepreneurship.

• We will work with Local Government, investors, businesses and ecosystem partners to promote opportunities for veteran founders.

• We will collaborate with Forces charities on initiatives that are mutually beneficial and support veteran entrepreneurship.

Governance: - We will embed Armed Forces support within our organisational strategy rather than treat it as a standalone initiative.

• We will regularly review progress against our commitments.

• We will maintain transparent communication of our impact and outcomes.

• We will work toward achieving and sustaining ERS Gold Award status, demonstrating continuous improvement and sector leadership.

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.