The Mission
TechVets is a Programme within The Forces Employment Charity that exists as a bridge for veterans, Service leavers, Reservists and their families into information technology careers.
We want to alleviate the issue of unemployment and underemployment in the Forces community by ensuring all veterans, Service leavers, reservists and their families can combine their military and life experience with their new leading digital skills acquired through TechVets to gain sustainable careers in information technology.
In doing so, TechVets builds on the strengths of the Forces community to support the UKs digital economy.
Background
The TechVets story started with our four co-Founders who could see the problems developing from an increasing use of tech, greater demand for better Cyber security and a fast growing skills gap - in concert with a national issue with unemployment and underemployment within the British Military Forces community.
TechVets went live in March 2018 with our launch event at Level 39, and we have gained momentum since - built on fantastic principles:
TechVets Ambassadors
GENERAL SIR RICHARD BARRONS KCB CBE
FORMER COMMANDER OF JOINT FORCES
General Sir Richard Barrons served as Commander Joint Forces Command, one of six "Chiefs of Staff" leading the UK Armed Forces until April 2016. He was responsible for 23,000 people worldwide and a budget of £4.3bn, delivering intelligence, Special Forces, operational command and control, all surveillance, reconnaissance and information systems and communications, operational logistics, medical support and advanced education and training across the Armed Forces.
An Artillery Officer, his Military career included leadership from Captain to General on military operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan - often as part of US-led coalitions and in NATO. He is President and Colonel Commandant of the Honourable Artillery Company, a Senior Associate Fellow at Rusiand a Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE IDEAS.
HUW OWEN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICE - ARK DATA CENTRES
Huw joined Ark in November 2012 as Chief Executive Officer to lead a new Management Team following the recapitalisation of the company. He has held key roles at a number of organisations, including President, BT Global Services and Regional Vice President, HP Defence and Security. Other roles in his extensive career include Chief Executive Officer of the Atlas Consortium.
A qualified lawyer, Huw also worked for the Asia Foundation, formulating and driving national reform programmes in Cambodia, as well as advising the United Nations on their efforts in Central Asia. Before this, he served with the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, latterly as a detective Inspector.
JO HANNAFORD
HEAD OF EMEA ENGINEERING, HEAD OF GLOBAL REGULATORY AND BUSINESS SERVICES
Jo is head of EMEA Engineering and head of global Regulatory and Business Services. She serves on the Firmwide Technology Risk Committee and the EMEA Inclusion and Diversity Committee. Jo is also the global co-sponsor of the Women in Engineering Network.
Jo joined Goldman Sachs in 1997 in the Investment Research Division in London. Since 2001, she has held roles across Engineering in London and New York, predominantly focusing on the build out of the firm’s global Compliance Technology and Conflicts Technology architectures. Jo was named managing director in 2008 and partner in 2014.
Prior to joining the firm, Jo was responsible for Global Volume Trading Technology at NatWest Markets.
She is a board member for the UK Government Digital Service Advisory Board and for the Women in Science and Engineering organisation.
BRIGADIER MARK PROCTOR OBE
MANAGING CONSULTANT - ATKINS
Mark Proctor is an ex-Brigadier who left the Army in December 2021 and is currently a strategic advisor and coach at Atkins; a British multinational engineering, design, planning, architectural design, project management and consulting services company.
Mark served as an Intelligence Corps Officer with extensive operational experience in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and various other areas of the globe. He has also been the Intelligence Corps Colonel, employed in the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) as the Intelligence Planner in Northwood, and an instructor on the Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC) at the United Kingdom Defence Academy.
His last two assignments were as the Army’s visiting Fellow to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) providing military advice to this distinguished Independent Think Tank as well as working on contemporary issues of the day (2020-2021) and Commander of the Joint Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities Group (JCG) responsible for cyber, EW and integrated strategic intelligence provision to key decision makers (2018-2020).
TechVets Founders
Peter served for 12 years as an infantry officer and served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Brunei, India, Belize, Northern Ireland, Kenya, and, Somalia. On leaving service Peter worked in the security industry before establishing Toro which provides cyber, physical, personnel security services to private clients, SMEs, corporates and governments.
Major (retd), Founder and CEO of Toro
Editor-at-large of TechCrunch, Mike has been named one of the most influential people in European technology by various newspapers and magazines.
Founder of the annual Europas Conference & Awards, the charity TechFugees, former advisor to UK Government on tech startup policy.
Euan is the Head of TadaWeb UK.
MARK MILTON
In memory of the late Mark Milton who gave so much to the TechVets community, positively changing so many lives of those we support.
Mark was a service design specialist who worked with clients across the public and private sectors including Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Sony, BBC, Channel 4, UK Home Office and the Cabinet Office.
Mark was the CEO and Co-founder of Amberlight Solutions.
The Team
James joined TechVets from Government Digital Services where he was employed as the Head of Threat Intelligence providing strategic cyber threat intelligence advice to key decision makers within central Government.
Prior to this James served for 19 years in the British Military, deploying to Northern Ireland, East Africa and Afghanistan with the Infantry, receiving lifelong injuries as a result of enemy action. James then served the remainder of his service in intelligence providing support to UK Defence Engagement in East Asia, before delivering strategic support to global Joint Military operations.
James brings years of leadership experience and a passion for TechVets having initially co-led the first TechVets local chapter in 2019 as a volunteer.
Prior to TechVets, Rachael served for 12 years in the RAF, working on Helicopter and Fast Jet units as a Survival Equipment Technician.
Rachael is currently studying a degree in Cyber Security with The Open University, whilst honing her technical cyber skills on platforms such as Hack The Box and TryHackMe to name a few.
Rachael joins the TechVets team as the Training Specialist, supporting Colin with the delivery, administration, and management of training, and is the lead for our cyber security training. ​
Jenna has joined TechVets as the Employer Relationship Manager following a two-year employer engagement role in the Forces Employment Charity’s EM3 initiative. This programme focused upon supporting veterans, spouses/partners of veterans and currently serving military personnel, and young people from Service families into IT-based careers.
Prior to this, Jenna was the Employment and Training Specialist at the Army Families Federation, where she led the delivery of the Forces Families Jobs platform. This bridged the gap between civilian employers and members of military families looking for employment and training opportunities.
With a background in education and science, and being the spouse of a (now) veteran, she also brings the lived experience of being a non-serving member of a military family and the challenges this can pose in the career and training space.
We are a Programme within...
The Forces Employment Charity exists to provide life-long, life-changing support, job opportunities, and training to service leavers, veterans, reservists and their families, irrespective of circumstances, rank, length of service, or reason for leaving.
Founded in 1885 and operating across the UK, we have the specialist knowledge and understanding to bridge the gap between military life and civilian employment. We work in partnership with other organisations and employers who, like us, respect and value the unique qualities and abilities of all those who have served.
