Interview with former British Army Colonel Simon Jackson

“TRANSFERABLE skills” is a phrase that might just send a shudder down the spine of many a job-hunter, regardless of their background. And if you happen to have spent your working career to date inside the armed forces, at first glance it might not be immediately apparent just what useful attributes you can bring to employers in the civilian sphere. But that didn’t deter former Army Colonel Simon Jackson.

Three years ago he took the plunge and set up his own firm, Simon Jackson Consulting (SJC). Based in Somerset, it specialises in helping both Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and programme teams nested inside larger corporations win new business and sell their products and services into new markets.

Inevitably his client roster is very much centred on the defence sector. After all, he’s had plenty of experience of both sides of the coin: as a user of military products and a supplier of them.

A former cavalry officer, in a 35-year military career he spent time at the pointy end in tanks, specifically the Chieftain, Challenger 1, and Challenger 2 platforms. Having joined as a fresh-faced 18-year-old Second Lieutenant in 1975, Simon worked his way up through the ranks while serving at home as well as during postings in Germany, Cyprus and Hong Kong.

Simon is pictured left (centre, front row) as Tank Troop Leader, South Germany, 1981.

As time went on he transitioned into procurement roles, looking at future equipment requirements, planning and delivery into service. He played a leading role in the British Army’s adoption of the Bowman radio system, a range of HF, VHF and UHF sets that replaced its ageing Clansman equipment and provides voice and data services to dismounted soldiers, battlefield vehicles and C2 centres. Bowman is also deployed to the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines and all the major helicopters supporting land operations. 

Delivered into service in 2004 and continually updated since, Bowman is still in use today: its successor system, Morpheus, has been beset by delays and is now not expected until the 2030s.

During the latter stages of his army career Simon also became involved in strategic analysis and ordnance safety for the MoD, working with Army Headquarters and the Defence Equipment and Support organisation. 

Given the trajectory of his service record, when in 2010 Simon decided to quit Army life, it was perhaps natural that he should find his new niche in a related field. At first he took on a number of roles with multinational defence giant BAE Systems, initially focusing on new technological developments in land munitions.

One of the most eye-catching aspects of his work with BAE came in his role as major campaigns leader for the firm’s Combat Vehicles Land U.K. arm. Here, he led Team Challenger 2, a consortium of defence industry suppliers including General Dynamics, Safran, Leonardo, Moog and QinetiQ who teamed up to offer UK MoD upgrades to keep the tank cutting-edge and battle-ready throughout its lifespan.

In practice, this meant introducing significant upgrades to the platform, including an improved  thermal imaging system, better night vision kit, enhanced surveillance and target-acquisition capabilities, and a modernised and upgraded fire-control system.

As Simon told Forces TV at the time, these upgrades would have turned “a great tank into an even better tank.” He added: “I myself was a tank soldier… we designed it, so we know exactly what needs to be done to give the British Army exactly what they need.” 

And having also enjoyed a spell as Head of Sales with Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land, when the time came three years ago to strike out on his own with SJC, it was precisely this keen focus on expert knowledge and insight, viewed through the prism of what a customer needs, that informed his firm’s approach.

He said: “In my experience, consultants tend to come in with theory, no experience, fluffy, tick-box exercise inputs and tell people what to do — which I didn’t like and often thought was rubbish advice when it happened to me in the corporate world!

“So, I work jointly and collaboratively with clients to help and facilitate them to make their own decisions to meet their goals and aspirations with practical, no-nonsense support based on my real-life and practical experiences gained in industry and the Army.”

SJC’s activities include (but are not limited to) markets and programmes analysis, market entry studies, campaign planning, products and strengths-and-weaknesses analysis, competition analysis, winning strategies and stakeholder engagement.

The nature of the business means that non-disclosure agreements preclude Simon from revealing all the aspects of his firm’s business, but one recent example that he’s willing to share is his ongoing collaboration with Moog Defence.

The firm is seeking to expand its existing UK portfolio by promoting its Reconfigurable Integrated Weapons Platform (RIwP) into the British Army’s Land Ground Based Air Defence (Land GBAD) and Battle Group Anti-Armour programmes.

Richard Allen-Miles, the firm’s EMEA Capture Lead, said: “Moog are offering our Reconfigurable Integrated Weapons Platform (RIwP) to the British Army for the upcoming SHORAD and C-UAS requirements.  We engaged Simon some years ago at the start of that campaign to provide market insights and campaign strategy oversight.

“The breadth of Simon’s experience in the defence industry, as an Army officer and within the DE&S defence procurement environment, coupled with his experience at MoD and Army HQ in future requirements teams has proven to be invaluable, and we continue to engage Simon on a regular basis as our campaign matures.”

Another satisfied customer is NP Aerospace, a rapidly growing composite armour manufacturer which SJC has been helping with market analysis and as their Interim Business Development Director.

Senior Vice President Peter Hardisty characterised SJC’s contribution as “a matchless combination of insights, expertise and analysis” as the U.K.-based firm put together a strategic development programme in a bid to win new business both domestically and for export.

Simon’s convinced that what links his successes helping these firms and others are basically a winning mix of learned experience and the sort of common-sense approach that his army career fostered right from the off. 

He characterised the key skills he utilised as “being able to see the wood for the trees” and added: “My real-life and practical experiences gained in business-winning and programme management, Army combat arm leadership, and MoD strategy and future equipment planning and acquisition roles… [mean]  I’ve done it, and my clients know that.

“I know how Governments and primes [prime contractors] procure equipment — and therefore how clients can best place themselves to win business.

“It is all about the customer — how the customer will benefit from having my clients’ equipment or services.  It is surprising how many people think selling is about them: it ain’t.”

This credo also means SJC sticks to what it knows — when the firm was approached for help with analysis of the use of steel in ship-building, it politely declined to take on the challenge; likewise a request for aid relating to space-related business development was gently rebuffed. As Simon remarked, “Space is a long way from combat vehicles and land equipment — literally!”

Life away from the office is equally important to Simon, and he makes sure he maintains a healthy work-life balance. Away from the SJC offices, he’ll often be found covered in grease and oil maintaining and restoring his old pick-up truck (pictured right), a 25-year-old Chevrolet LUV which is his pride and joy.

On Saturday afternoons from autumn to spring he’s often also to be found on the terraces of The Recreation Ground or sitting in front of the TV, loudly cheering on his beloved Bath Rugby Club. And he also finds time to serve on his local parish council and as a director of charity Age UK Somerset.

Asked what the future might hold for him and his business, Simon highlighted a mixture of opportunities and concerns in the defence sector.

In terms of challenges ahead, he said: “Defence budgets, particularly in the land environment, will continue to be constrained despite, in the West, proclamations of increases.

"Significant proportions of government spend will be focused on replacing and enhancing stocks donated to Ukraine. Targeting customers and programmes will be a challenge.”

He observed that the new Government’s impending Strategic Defence Review was likely to add to uncertainty in the industry domestically, remarking: “There will certainly be a short-term pause in new programmes, and future requirements will take time to mature; in addition, it will be interesting to see how policies around U.K. content and manufacture pan out.”

And the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine was inevitably changing the defence industry landscape, he said, noting: “Lessons from Ukraine have re-emphasised governments’ needs for security of supply and therefore local, in-country capability.

“BAE Systems and Rheinmetall, as examples, have successfully demonstrated that competitions can be won by partnering with customer-country industry: how do other and smaller companies overcome this barrier to entry and follow suit?”

But of course the effects of the war in Ukraine aren’t only negative for the defence industry, Simon agreed, saying: “There are also opportunities to exploit. Once lessons learnt from Ukraine are fully analysed, new opportunities will emerge, with air defence, uncrewed systems and artillery leading the way.

“Eastern Europe and Scandinavia are regions to focus on, given their real external threats and increased defence spending. Any country with ex-Soviet equipment is an opportunity, given the very public poor performance of these platforms in Ukraine.”