PRESS RELEASE: Ex-Veterans at Advent IM, shortlisted to finalist for the second year in a row, at the stunning British Ex-Forces in Business Awards 2022

• by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
• General

**PRESS RELEASE**

Media Contact: Ellie Hurst
+44 (0) 121 559 6699,
bestpractice@advent-im.co.uk
Date: 26 Jul 2022

Ex-Veterans at Advent IM, shortlisted to finalist for the second year in a row, at the stunning British Ex-Forces in Business Awards 2022

Advent IM is thrilled to announce that not one, but two of our team members have made the shortlist for the ‘British Ex-Forces in Business Awards, 2022’, the world’s largest celebration of veterans in a second career for the second year running.

The British Ex-Forces in Business Awards is the world’s flagship platform for providing that visibility by celebrating the achievements of veterans in the wider workforce and promoting the strong synergies between military values and business excellence. The awards highlight the military-gained skills and qualities that have helped enable their business achievements and recognises the organisations that have supported them.

Advent IM are very proud to announce that Mike Gillespie, Managing Director & Co Founder of Advent IM has successfully been shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious Business Leader of the Year (SME) award, alongside his colleague and Security Consultant at Advent IM, Leighton Hughes, who has made the shortlist Reservist of the Year Category.

Mike joined the RAMC in 1989, leaving in 1998, to pursue a career in ICT / Information Management and today is the Managing Director of Advent IM. Since 2002, Advent has gone from 2 people with a laptop to a £3.5m turnover company in under 20 years, with 19 employees.

Leighton joined the RAF Police in 2007. During his time, he was posted to RAF Brampton / Wyton and deployed to Kuwait to assist with the withdrawal of British Forces and nationals from Iraq in 2009. In 2011, Leighton was deployed to Afghanistan on Op Herrick to the Intelligence Exploitation Force and was the Biometrics SME for 3 Scots Battle Group in Nadi-Ali, where he verified two Taliban fighters who had been detained.

These exciting, high-profile awards ceremonies not only gather business leaders and veterans to honour the winners, but also bring together top companies, key military personnel, politicians, journalists and other stakeholders to advance dialogue and share best practice around the benefits of ex-forces employment initiatives, and ultimately promote the significant value that military-gained skills can provide to the UK economy if better utilised across the workforce.

The winner of each category will be announced on the 8th of September in London and will be shared across the Advent IM social media accounts. Fingers crossed.

To find out more about this years’ awards program, and see a full list of finalists, please visit https://exforcesinbusiness.co.uk/

For more information:

Ellie Hurst, Head of Marcomms & Media, Advent IM Ltd, Cradley Enterprise Centre Ltd, Maypole Fields, Cradley, Halesowen, B63 2QB. Tel: 0121 559 6699. Email: Ellie.Hurst@Advent-im.co.uk.