In this episode, host Harry Bucknall talks to Lee Harris-Hamer, Royal Artillery veteran, about life after the Army as an award-winning businessman.

Lee tells Harry about his troubled early childhood and family life before he joined the Royal Artillery in 2008 aged 17, praising the Army for giving him structure after a rather problematic time as a teenager. He also talks candidly about how a serious back injury ended his Army career prematurely in 2016. As he puts it, his “whole world came crashing down”, which led to him being diagnosed with clinical anxiety and depression.

Lee talks about his determination to overcome adversity and getting started in the cleaning services business, after attending a start-up course organised by the veterans’ employment charity X-Forces Enterprise (XFE) and receiving funding from ABF The Soldiers’ Charity. And he pays tribute to his company employees for his triumph last year at XFE’s Soldiering On Awards in the ‘Business of the Year – Scale Up’ category.

Lee also shares his business vision and ambitions for the future. On overcoming life’s challenges, he offers this advice: “No matter what you do, do your best. Your best is good enough for anybody. You can’t give any more than your best.”

In 2023, Lee was ABF’s Ambassador for the annual Cateran Yomp challenge in the Cairngorms. We are proud of Lee and everything he has achieved and thank him for sharing his story on our podcast.

You can read more about Lee’s life journey on our website here.

ABOUT GENERAL TALK

Hosted by Harry Bucknall and featuring leading figures from across the British Army and beyond, our monthly General Talk podcast examines the changing role of the military in the modern world.

To listen to other episodes in our General Talk podcast series, please visit our page.

SUBSCRIBE