Members of the armed forces have already faced extraordinary ordeals in the course of their service, often emerging from years in the army, navy or air force with difficult experiences and memories on their conscience.
With the effects of institutionalisation and post-traumatic stress disorder, it is perhaps not surprising that ex-forces personnel are found in such large numbers among the homeless population, in temporary accommodation and in prison.
A company is trying to improve those statistics by providing support to ex-servicemen and women, or the families of those killed in action, in order to set up their own businesses.
The not-for-profit company, Heropreneurs, currently awaiting charitable status, sets fledgling entrepreneurs on their way by matching them with a suitable business mentor, offering legal and accountancy advice, and investing hard cash.
The firm has a team of successful businessmen and women on its board, including Charlie Denton – the creator of the luxury beauty products company, Molton Brown – to dispense advice and manage its investments. Because rather than giving out grants or loans, Heropreneurs operates like a ‘business angel’, taking equity in the business in exchange for up to £20,000 investment.
Heropreneurs director Richard Morris believes taking an investment approach rather than straight financing helps spur his charges on.
“We find that if you give people money but take equity in return, they want to work harder to pay that back. We take on all the regulation for them, we provide legal and accountancy advice, and leave them to get on with building their business,” he says.
The company will especially focus on recent service leavers but also the partners of those killed on duty.
“Families leaving the service are often left without accommodation if they’ve been living at barracks, and don’t always get the full resettlement package,” he says. “And for those who have lost partners, though they receive a lump sum compensation from the army, this pushes them outside the limits of meanstested benefits, making it harder to find their feet.”
Another area of focus will be those left with disabilities after injuries, of which there are an increasing number returning from Afganistan and Iraq. “They are rarely given on opportunity to consider the full range of things they could go in to, so there’s definitely benefit in offering business advice, and seeing if there are good ideas worth following,” he added.
“In fact, that’s true with many soldiers. There are a lot of clever people in the ranks, and it’s not the case they necessarily want to go and learn a trade and become a bricklayer or driver or security guard – Tony Banks, the ‘curry house king of Scotand’ and now the country’s richest man, was once a private during the Falklands War.”
The first former soldier to sign up with Heropreneurs is Nick Cowan, a 43-year-old former Royal Green Jackets colour sergeant who was medically discharged after 23 years.
Even while still serving, Cowan had successfully campaigned to change the law so that armed forces personnel are given equal priority as others on social housing lists, and is now taking his can-do attitude into business.
He said: “I worked with the NHS after the army, and I know that I’m worth more than that – but it’s only with the belief in myself and the understanding that Heropreneurs has instilled in me that I can see that,” he says.
