Sodexo report recommends key changes to Armed Forces Lived Experience

The new paper reveals how the lives of defence personnel in the UK can be improved into the 2030s according to a group of Serving Personnel, veterans, academics and industry partners convened by Sodexo.

Research by food and facilities management services provider, Sodexo, has sought to address growing concerns regarding the Lived Experience of members of the Armed Forces based in the UK. The report, titled ‘The Future Lived Experience: Supporting the UK’s Armed Forces in the 2030s’, is the latest step in Sodexo’s ongoing research and solution development in the defence industry.

The report’s purpose is to support the ongoing work of the Armed Forces in their recruitment and retention drives, ensuring that those living and working on military bases have the best possible Lived Experience. It comes at a time when the combined full-time trained strength of the UK Armed Forces is rapidly decreasing.

Overall figures released by the Ministry of Defence show the combined full-time trained strength of the UK’s Armed Forces decreased by 3,620 personnel to a total of 127,040 between January 2024 and January 2025. Meanwhile, 41 per cent of personnel are now actively looking for a new role outside the Forces.

Research instigated by Sodexo has drawn up a series of 10 recommendations to improve the Lived Experience, covering areas of Armed Forces life from accommodation and food to internet access and the provision of childcare.

A major theme to emerge is the need for policy change to account for the evolution of modern family life and personal relationships. A key recommendation in the report is the creation of so-called ‘family passports’. These would combine existing data on health needs, the education stage of children, and housing requirements to ensure continuity and a seamless transition between defence sites as families are transferred.

Recommendations also look 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.

A further recommendation covers the role of military establishments in local communities and makes clear the need to better engage with those ‘outside the wire’ to improve the image of the Armed Forces and encourage more young people to consider defence careers.

Commenting on the report’s findings Paul Anstey, CEO 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.”