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About this Award…
An award to honour an individual or group of individuals linked with the Armed Forces Community who have started a successful new business venture more than two years ago (before January 1st, 2020) and who still retain a minimum of 50% interest in the venture.
The judges will be looking for evidence of:
- An engaging story behind the business, the identified needs and quantified demands for the product or
- What scale-up challenges (both business and personal) have been faced and how they have been overcome.
- The evolving viable commercial business model; the provision of excellent customer service and value.
- Lessons and skills taken from military service that have been translated to the business world and what makes this nomination special.
It is anticipated that the established company will have signed and pledges to the Armed Forces Covenant.
This award is suitable for a person, group or team.
Meet our 2021 Winner!
Richard Hamlyn Tucker MBE – AAA Caring Caretaker Ltd
Providing specialised cleaning services and domestic support to universities, the NHS and the MoD, including infection controls that have supported combatting the spread of Covid-19
Richard H Tucker MBE set up AAA Caring Caretaker in 2015 to provide cleaning for university accommodation and student housing in Durham.
Over the past two years, the firm has enjoyed significant, rapid growth and now delivers specialised services to the NHS for cleaning and domestic support in seven hospitals, as well as for the Ministry of Defence. Its specialisms include infection controls, and its highly-valued work with the NHS has supported combatting the spread of Covid-19.
AAA Caring Caretaker is a company that values its people, including those with disabilities – both seen and unseen. They pride themselves on social value credentials, employing many veterans, especially those suffering from mental health issues. Commitment to developing its team has enabled the firm to tender for major commercial contracts, as the respect from Richard’s employees helps to ensure AAA Caring caretaker has been able to adapt and become a highly profitable enterprise.
Richard Hamlyn Tucker MBE said:
“It means a lot – especially for the whole of my team. I’m not known for being speechless or short of saying anything but here we are! Thank you everyone, absolutely chuffed and delighted of course”
“Back when we started the business, there were a couple of times where we tried to do everything but we had to take a step back, and move forward in a different format. That’s where I think the military service element comes in – looking at an operation, is it going right? Is it going to plan? The tenacity to say ‘actually we can change this’, and ‘we can do this’. We don’t always know where we think we’re going, but we have to recognise where things might change, and take the step to change it. That might make or break another company!”
Previous Winners:
2020 – IED Training Solutions Ltd
2019 – UK Connect
2018 – Strongmind Resiliency Training Ltd
2017 – “Business Enterprise Award” – X-Forces
