Dr. Elizabeth Newman-Earl: Turning Lived Experience as a Military Spouse Into a Social Enterprise

Dr. Elizabeth Newman-Earl knows the reality of military spouse life firsthand. After following her Army husband overseas and stepping away from her own career in 2015, she completed a PhD in Critical Military Studies and Sociology, an experience that became the foundation for e50K, a social enterprise entirely led by Armed Forces and veteran spouses.

Built around five pillars, Education, Employment, Engagement, Enterprise, and Environment, e50K has employed over 240 people across various contracts and paid out more than £1m in salaries over the past five years, all while running e50K Strategic Advisory as a commercially sustainable consultancy supporting multinational organizations on social value and PPN 06/20 compliance.

In this interview, she talks about the turning point that transformed her research into a working enterprise, the challenge of building two businesses at once with limited resources, and what she wishes more companies understood about creating genuine community value instead of simply checking compliance boxes.

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Q: You finished your PhD in Critical Military Studies and Sociology while following your Army husband overseas, stepping away from your career since 2015. What was the turning point that transformed your research into e50K, and what advice would you give to other military spouses (or women in similar "following" situations) who are trying to figure out what's next when traditional career paths don't fit their reality?

A: I knew that I wanted to make my PhD count, or at least that the words I heard from the women I interviewed wouldn't fall on deaf ears. Initially I was unsure as to how I could make a difference but then, unexpectedly, I was invited to work as an SME supporting Amey in the recontracting of defence housing management and this very much set the trajectory for e50K. I was asked to help them on answering three questions

1. Improving the Lived Experience [for those living in Service Family Accommodation]
2. Improving occupancy satisfaction [military personnel are known as occupants of SFA, and it is only the serving family member who can sign the agreement]
3. Social Value

It was really the first two which opened the way for something to be done. So often within the defence community we are offered a new play park or the opportunity is either linked to something put on by the military such as a coffee morning or regiment/corps/battalion event. Otherwise, a lot of focus is on jobs and skills which, whilst hugely valuable, doesn't get to the heart of what our community needs. A place of connectivity, of purpose that sits outside of one's role within the family or against the military. Essentially a space for spouses and partners to find themselves and have the opportunity to invest in themselves amidst the pretty unrelentless pace of military living. Amey's MD, Craig McGilvray, saw this a chance to build bridges into the defence community and reset the relationship with those living in SFA.

The advice I would give other spouses and partners who are considering how to make non-traditional career paths….it can be hard and you have to be absolutely sure that you want to do it as it can be pretty lonely and tough out there. BUT that being said, there is a great network of us out there and pretty much everyone is keen to help and support, open doors, make introductions where we can. Really think about what you are wanting to achieve, really make sure you know your landscape, understand who and what your competitors and get a great mentor. I have been so lucky as a result of accessing Heropreneuers and their mentoring scheme. Steve, who I met in 2022, has been with us for four years and is now the Chairman of our board. He has become a really close and dear friend and I couldn't imagine being on this journey without his wisdom, his support and his generosity.

Q: e50K is entirely led by Armed Forces and veteran spouses, and you've built it around five value pillars (Education, Employment, Engagement, Enterprise, Environment). How do you balance delivering measurable community impact, the polytunnels, Move You In Packs, Bramble Woods transformations, while also running e50K Strategic Advisory as a commercially sustainable consultancy? What's the biggest challenge in building a social enterprise that's both impactful and financially viable?

A: Ha, that's a tough one! I think to start off with being slightly naïve about the enormity of what I was embarking upon helped because building one business let alone two with no money is a tough gig! We were lucky that we had some initial backing from Amey which kept the wolf from the door for the first year and that we managed to drum up business for the advisory side, but it has been for a long time a hand to mouth affair. I think the biggest challenge is making sure that there is enough time to invest in both companies because as soon as you start spending more time on one then the other one needs you too. So, I have been incredibly lucky in being able to find and hold onto the most amazing people who have believed in the vision and have done the hard yards with me. Firstly, having a senior figure such as Brig. Richard Dennis allowed me a foot in the door where I could start building my own network across defence, where I could have the right conversations with the people that matter. Secondly, I have an amazing team who are so committed to our mission that they all give so much and believe in what we are trying to do to help us succeed.

I do think the fact that we are mission led has made a difference in terms of approaching the major players in industry and that we very much do what we challenge industry to do. We have employed over 240 people on various contracts over the past 5 years, we have paid over £1m in salaries in that time so we don't sit in an ivory tower, we absolutely roll our sleeves up and get involved ourselves. We don't always get it right, and we always seek to learn as to how we can be better, how we can support more people and grow our offering and capability.

We have ambitions to grow and deliver across the UK defence estate and we are always looking for funders and supporters to open doors, introduce us to the right people so we can continue to grow our mission, make the impacts that we know are still desperately needed within Defence. So often our community is packaged as one: the Armed Forces Families, military wives or just the 'military'. Within our community there are so many needs coupled with such limited funds within defence that organisations such as e50K is so critical and we want to be able to widen our reach and our footprint to support as many people as we can.

Q: Through e50K Strategic Advisory, you work with multinational organizations on social value, impact measurement, and procurement (PPN 06/20 compliance). How do you position yourself as a credible strategic partner to large enterprises when you're running a small, remote team? And what do you wish more companies understood about creating genuine community value versus just checking boxes for compliance?

A: That is a great question and also a great challenge. We are indeed a small but mighty team and often it does feel a bit like David and Goliath when we go into initial meetings but our track record of advising on £18BN of government procurement, delivering a 16x multiplier on our original investment does at least give us the credibility of being at the table. We have also worked closely with MOD to consider how Social Value should be delivered and wider trader associations as to what good looks like in this space that I do believe we have a hugely unique offer to those we work with.

Over the past 5 years industry has shown that they are committed to making a difference in terms of delivering Social Value however, there are challenges and nuances within that. With the maturing of social value within contracts and recent changes that have been announced under PPN026 (August 2026) there does seem to be a real impetus from central government to hone our focus on skills and training. This is alongside the increased weighting of social value, any contract over £5m in value will have a 20% social value weighting plus an increased focus on assurance and verification. We expect more changes to be announced in Autumn 2026 with regards to wider community wealth building under the guise of social justice and growth in every postcode which is where I believe the work we have historically done at Bramble Woods will now sit.

So, with that being said, we must bear in mind that a broadbrush approach does not work within any community, and within defence there is no one size fits all solution. Often, we have heard 'we'll organise a CV writing workshop and some interview skill' as if that is the magic bullet that we have been missing. Where we challenge companies is to go beyond that, encouraging upstream personal growth providing low level skills and training through community participation. Weeding Wednesday, Bee50K, Crafty Club, Bramble Brews and other bespoke programmes provides the space for our volunteers to find themselves again and recognise the skills they have and their own capability. All of these activities have been designed by the team at Bramble Woods and it works as its sympathetic to the local needs and desires. These programmes and activities have been designed collegiately without the inference 'you must do this, you must do that to get this qualification'. Everything we do is linked to our key delivery pillars which all deliver into social value requirements and community wealth building at a lower pace after which our members are then ready to present themselves to such a workshop with a real sense of personal wealth and capability.

Most companies we work with are sympathetic as to what is needed and I am convinced that e50K having the experience of delivering in the field, of the whole team being in and of the defence world, provides us with the credibility and the right to challenge what is proposed. Whilst often on a bigger scale we never ask companies to do something that we have not trialled ourselves, be that biodiversity net gain and renewal or developing skills focused cohorts, we do believe that we understand what works and know how to deliver it into our community settings.

We also must balance this insider knowledge directly to the ask of client's requirements and make sure that there is value add being delivered as a direct result of the procurement process. Again, being able to draw on our specialist position provides the Lived Experience where we can challenge and push clients into making promises that will have a direct and positive impact on our community and not just be box ticking exercise.

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