The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the British Army’s recruitment advertising budget for the financial year 2025-26 has been set at approximately £18 million.
This announcement follows a parliamentary question posed by Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, representing Huntingdon, who asked about the size of the Army’s advertising budget and the contractor responsible for delivering recruitment advertising.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard responded, stating: “Capita is currently contracted to deliver recruitment advertising on behalf of the British Army, until the new tri-service Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS) launches in 2027.”
Capita has long been responsible for the British Army’s recruitment advertising under the Recruiting Partnering Project. This partnership is set to continue until the introduction of the new tri-service Armed Forces Recruiting Service in 2027, which will centralise recruitment efforts for the Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force. Pollard highlighted that Capita would continue its role in recruitment advertising until the AFRS comes into effect.
The AFRS is part of a broader modernisation plan that aims to create a single-entry point for prospective recruits across all branches of the UK Armed Forces. According to Pollard: “The approved budget for the Army’s recruitment advertising in 2025-26 is c.£18,000,000.”
The confirmation of the recruitment budget comes amid ongoing challenges in Army recruitment and retention. Responding to a separate question from Alex Easton, Independent MP for North Down, regarding the Army’s plans to increase serving personnel, Pollard acknowledged inherited issues: “The current Government inherited a crisis in recruitment and retention from the last administration, and we are committed to addressing this through a range of targets, initiatives and measures.”
Pollard explained that the Army is actively implementing the Future Soldier initiative, which aims to maintain a combined force of over 100,000 personnel, comprising 73,000 Regular Service Personnel and 30,100 Army Reserves. Recruitment remains a top priority, with the Army focusing on both attracting new personnel and retaining current members.
The Army’s Retention Strategy focuses on reducing voluntary outflow, while the Recruiting Partnering Project, operated by Capita, is focused on significantly increasing recruitment numbers during the 2025-26 period. This is part of a broader effort to address workforce shortages and build on historical links with the Commonwealth, which continues to play a role in recruitment strategies.
Looking ahead, the AFRS will replace the individual recruitment schemes currently operated by the three branches of the UK Armed Forces. The new system is expected to streamline the recruitment process, making it more efficient and accessible for potential recruits. The Ministry of Defence has also highlighted its commitment to ensuring that recruitment advertising remains effective, even as the AFRS takes shape.
As part of this commitment, the Ministry has confirmed that the Army’s recruitment drive will remain one of its highest priorities, with continuous improvements to advertising strategies and retention initiatives. The AFRS is expected to launch in 2027.
That’s nothing.
– That’s the same ad budget size as a regional railway.
– Need local recruiting sergeants back.
– Scots no longer have the mass affiliation to UK armed forces they once did and an advert isn’t going to change that
– The ad will invariably not be aimed at the core audience who we really need in a fight in favour of women and DEI targets.
Recruitment is in a mess and so is retention – whilst the full time army is down to 70k ish – when you strip out women (not likely to be on the front line) and those unfit what’s the actual fighting strength?
Then throw in RoE and the potential of being sent into a conflict that politicians then years later throw you in a cell for.
Add in barely lethal equipment such as Boxer and a handful of tanks and artillery pieces whilst binning Warrior, Puma2, AS90 – all without replacement.
The MoD is run by cretins.
rmj, did you serve back in the 1950s?! Women don’t serve ‘on the front line’? I was serving when the WRAC was abolished in 1992 and the women were directly employed by the Corps and Regiments that had previously been ‘men only’. As I recall the only trades not open to women then were close combat roles in the infantry and AFV crewmen. Women ORs served alongside men both in barracks and in the field on exercises and operations since April 1992. Female officers serving with other arms had already moved across to those Corps in October 1990.
In 2016 all roles were opened up to women.
As for how many of those 70k regulars who are deployable. I estimate that 25% are in non-deployable units/HQs/posts. Probably another 5% are not deployable due to personal circumstance and 10% may not be medically fit for full deployment. So only 60% of the 70k would be fully deployable, say 42k.
Of course that is not to say that 42k soldiers could deploy on a new Operation next week as many of those 42k are engaged in other tasks that would have to continue (Permanently Committed Forces, as we used to call them)
Thanks Graham – 42k isn’t much – particularly on long term ops! Out of those what’s the fighting element? I don’t mean phase 1 or 2
Graham literally factored out Phase 1 and 2 in his anaylsis. “Non deployable HQ’s/Posts/units” includes Phase 1 and 2.
What’s with your obsession with the “fighting element”? You seem to have this really weird belief that something like a Brigade REME regiment somehow doesn’t count?
Fighting element – as in those trained to kill, passed infantry training, can handle a range of weapons and not just passed their WHT. If REME are called into the front-line fight then we’ve already lost.
You seem complacent around our capabilities to the point of either ignorance or head in the sand. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and suggest the latter
Hi rmj.
REME Close Support Battalions support deployable Brigades including operating Armoured vehicles to tow away damaged examples in combat areas.
So not just WkShps in the rear.
Still a fighting element? Without which the Infantry and the RAC, RA, and the AAC, the combat arms, cannot operate.
They’re all soldiers.
RMJ: REME are trained to kill, they saw plenty of action in Afghanistan and Iraq, since LAD’s are usually forward deployed, so if anyone is ignorant, it’s you.
Women and minorities make up 60% of the population don’t makes sense to reach these groups to boost numbers. Also, we are subjects of his Britannic majesty, DEI is an Americanism so true patriots should avoid using such imported neologisms
Only ethnic minority groups and LGBTQ+ squared need apply. Preferably no white male pilots or anyone from the Commonwealth. Seventy five percent pf applications will be refused on mental health grounds and it will take a year to process each applicant.
And the 18M will be spent in The Guardian and BBC…
And they can deal with this criticism by jailing anyone who disagrees, or flat out banning any discussion by making it “fail to meet community guidelines”
It’s weird how people with your views have the victim complex nowadays. Are you saying young white men won’t join the armed forces? Well there have always been a shortage of them in the ranks hence the millions of imperial troops that served in both world wars
Are you replying to me SD? If so you obviously have no sense of irony.
The crying by “bros” on this thread who’d never serve a day in their lives under any circumstance is hilarious. Especially the cognitive dissonance when they complain that ads target “ethnic groups” (that aren’t white) but also cry about not targeting commonwealth groups. I suspect they only want commonwealth soldiers with a certain skin colour to apply.
Also hilarious that the people who apparently care about defending “this country” are in the comments urging people not to sign up, and trying to paint the services in as bad a light as they can. Almost like they’re working for someone who has a vested interest in weakening the west and creating division. Of course nobody does that do they?
The day they started playing politics with HM Forces was the begining of the end of the said forces. I served through the 70s and 80s and i just despair at whats happened to the Armed Forces. These clowns today no nothing of whats required to capably defend our country.
How Capita is still getting contracts to do anything is beyond me. Oh that’s right, they’re bargain basement cheap.
The one reliable demographic in the U.K. population for recruitment to the Armed Services has been effectively subjected to a campaign of sneering insults by its own governments and media for decades past. Any wonder they won’t join up today? Would you?
To defend this woke and endophobic world, of course not. Let this government fight. They are making good progress in their task of disarming the country.
Imagine removing the retention bonus a few years ago and replacing it with absolutely nothing.
Sorry – unless you’re a techie then you get money for days.
All other trades do one.
RMJ: Your comment about REME. A REME Fitter Section is attached to AI/Mech Inf companies, the sabre squadrons of armoured regiments and armoured recce regiments etc etc. They are as far forward as you can get. Soldier first, tradesman second.