(Images: © UK MOD Crown Copyright)
This week is UK Armed Forces Week (22–27 June), the nation’s moment to recognise everyone who keeps Britain secure at home and strong abroad: regulars, reserves, veterans, cadets, cadet adult volunteers and the families who serve alongside them.
At Optima, that recognition runs deeper than a single week. Defence is the sector we work in every day, and the people who have served in uniform are central to how we deliver for our clients. This week, we want to say thank you and share where our commitment to the Armed Forces community stands today.
Our pledge, in practice
In 2025, Optima signed the Armed Forces Covenant and was awarded the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Bronze Award, in recognition of our forces-friendly policies and our openness to employing reservists, veterans, cadet instructors and military spouses and partners.
That commitment isn’t symbolic. Over a third of our consultants are former service personnel, bringing decisive thinking under pressure and a genuine bias for delivery to every programme they work on. Our Reservist policy gives Reservists 5 days’ additional paid leave each year for annual camp and deployment, on top of flexible working to fit around training commitments. We’re proud to be working towards Silver-level recognition, and we’ll keep building practical support for colleagues from the Armed Forces community as we go.
Hear from the team: Sue Ousby
This month’s Employee Spotlight could not be better timed. Sue Ousby, our Engineering Director, served in the Royal Air Force for twenty years before building a second career in Systems Engineering. She talks radar, resilience, and what a career in uniform teaches you that no consultancy textbook ever could.
Read Sue’s spotlight feature →
In the press this week
Our Managing Director, Lloyd Pryce, features in the Future of Defence showcase, appearing in New Scientist’s print edition on newsstands now, and online. Lloyd discusses why the biggest risk facing UK defence transformation isn’t a lack of technology, it’s a lack of integration, and the role independent systems engineering SMEs play in closing that gap.
Read a preview of Lloyd’s feature →
Our biggest announcement: Gold Sponsor of Invictus Games Birmingham 2027
To close out a week of reflection and recognition, we’re delighted to announce that Optima is a Gold Sponsor of the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027.
The Invictus Games brings together wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans from around the world through sport, recovery and community. As a Defence and Nuclear sector consultancy with deep ties to the Armed Forces community, and so many veterans among our own people, this partnership reflects something we believe in without reservation: that service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off, and recovery deserves the same commitment and rigour we bring to our engineering work.
“Optima exist to support complex, high-stakes missions. Backing the Invictus Games is a natural extension of that purpose, and a chance to stand behind the resilience of the people who inspire our work every day.” — Lloyd Pryce, Managing Director, Optima Systems Consultancy
We’ll be sharing more on what this partnership looks like in practice over the coming months, including how colleagues across Optima can get involved.
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Get involved
Armed Forces Week is a chance for all of us, not only those who have served, to show our support. Wherever you are this week, take a moment to thank someone from the Armed Forces community, and follow our LinkedIn page for more from Sue, Lloyd, and the team throughout the week.