End of Year Message from Ren Kapur MBE, Founder & CEO of X-Forces Enterprise
As we close out 2024, I am filled with pride and gratitude as I reflect on an incredible year for X-Forces Enterprise and the Soldiering On Awards. Our dedicated efforts continue to support members of the Armed Forces community to realise their potential, while shining a light on remarkable resilience, innovation, and achievement.
With the awarding of the new Career Transition Partnership contract to Reed in Partnership, we are delighted to continue delivering enhanced enterprise and entrepreneurship resettlement programmes for those leaving the military. Beyond the CTP contract, we are working with our charity partners Army Benevolent Fund, Greenwich Hospital, and the Royal British Legion, to provide members of the military family with enterprise skills to help them make informed decisions about their futures.
It was particularly poignant to deliver our first face-to-face Masterclass since Covid on the evolving topic of digital marketing at the spectacular Rolls-Royce facility near Bristol. This was coupled with a ‘lunch and learn’ session where I shared with the Rolls-Royce team the story of my journey and that of XFE, with key insights about my own integration into the Armed Forces as a Reservist.
Another milestone moment came in May of this year when we journeyed north to Warrington with Richard Bearman of British Business Bank to celebrate with our 3000th recipient of a Start Up Loan, Phil Williams, at his splendid Krapow Thai Restaurant.
Moving on to the Soldiering On Awards, a spectacular occasion with astonishing finalists, inspirational speakers, and fabulous entertainment. Stories of selflessness and excellence remind us why the mission of SOA matters so much. Veterans and People Minister Al Carns had the opportunity to attend his first SOA and was fulsome in his admiration for our community – and the Awards themselves – in a wonderful address. The Soldiering On Awards also provided the perfect platform to launch the Soldiering On Academy, which in 2025 will deliver lifelong enterprise skills training to enhance employability and introduce pathways into entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and employment,
Volunteering remains a central tenet of our organisation’s ethos, so we were proud to volunteer our time to deliver a Cadets in Enterprise weekend for wonderful young people from the Army Cadet Force and the RAF AIR Cadets. This culminated in a graduation ceremony in the iconic setting of the London Stock Exchange Group building in Paternoster Square.
On a personal note, as a proud serving Reservist I was delighted to receive my Coronation Medal and I look forward to continuing my service to the country, my community, and society as a whole.
Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful and relaxing Christmas and New Year.
You can read my full blog at https://x-forces.com/ceos-end-of-year-message-2024/
