The recommendations follow research conducted by Sodexo on the current Lived Experience, carried out through one-to-one interviews and roundtables with over 100 participants representing a cross section of serving Armed Forces personnel of all levels as well as academics, representatives from the third sector and other strategic partners operating within the industry.
The recommendations also took into account the results of Sodexo’s 2024 Annual Defence Survey which collates feedback from around 6,000 military personnel across tri-service locations at which it delivers services.
The recommendations include ‘significant improvements’ to accommodation, food offering and more consistent access to local services. There were also calls for greater technology integration to improve the experience of forces families and a more prominent role for Armed Forces bases in their communities.
Recommendations looked at the role of food and accommodation as the essentials of a ‘modern, stable’ Lived Experience within the Armed Forces. The report advocates a minimum, universal measure of the quality of the Lived Experience to ensure consistency across the Defence estate.
Commenting on the report’s findings Paul Anstey, chief executive of Sodexo Government UK & Ireland, said: “As a facilities management company with deep links to the Armed Forces community, we see it as our duty to work with partners and colleagues to deliver a Lived Experience standard that a modern military population expects, and of which we can be proud.
“In response to this, and in line with the government’s ‘One Defence’ strategy, we have embarked on this ambitious programme of research as we look ahead to the 2030s and beyond and consider the changing nature of Defence people and their needs.
“This forms part of our wider body of research and solution development in the defence space which clearly shows that the Lived Experience is critical to the happiness and success of our Armed Forces.”
The report is released at a time when the combined full-time trained strength of the UK Armed Forces is rapidly decreasing, with a net loss of 3,620 personnel in the space of a year to a total of 127,040 and 41% of personnel now actively looking for a new role outside the Forces.