Tom served 15 years as a bugler in HM Band of the Royal Marines, doing what he loved best.

“I served in four of the five RM bands. I travelled the globe playing at key events such as Prince Philip’s funeral, the 2012 Olympics and Rugby World Cup. I served in Afghanistan on Herrick 14 as an ambulance driver with close support medical squadron. The highlight of my career was playing the Last Post at the Festival of Remembrance in the Royal Albert Hall in 2013 and 2014. However, in February 2021, when taking a course to become a Sgt. Bugler, I ended up in rehabilitation after suffering a blood clot in my shoulder and pulmonary embolism. Six months later, I was medically discharged. In the midst of my desperate search for a new job, our family computer broke down and I had to rely on my mobile phone to make applications. So I was really grateful when the Charity helped me purchase a laptop so I could properly write my CV and apply for roles.”

Tom Cartwright was a bugler with HM Band of The Royal Marines

the Charity threw me a real lifeline by helping me get the tools I needed to forge a new way forward for myself and my family”

Tom gained a job as a general manager at a hotel in Devon and quickly discovered he had a talent for business. “During second lockdown, an independent estate and lettings agency came up for sale in Exmouth. So I decided to go-it-alone and started talks with a franchise to help me in buying the business. Again, the laptop was an essential piece of equipment for me — meetings were still all online and it also enabled me to draw up a professional business plan and apply for business loans. Fast forward to October 2022 and I successfully completed my purchase of a new estate and lettings agency, Belvoir Exmouth. Over the first five months, we grew our lettings portfolio by 10% and after another business acquisition, will be adding even more properties to our managed portfolio. Our ethos at the business is very pro-Corps family, and are always on the lookout to use veteran contractors such as plumbers, roofers or cleaners. At 38-years-old with three small children, it was quite a challenging time to suddenly lose my career but the Charity threw me a real lifeline by helping me get the tools I needed to forge a new way forward for myself and my family.”

It’s onwards and upwards for Tom. As this Report goes to print, Belvoir Exmouth had been advised it had won the Belvoir Group’s ‘Newcomer of the Year’ award.

Tom Cartwright, Company Director Belvoir, Exmouth