Coras managing director Phil Cutts recognised for leadership skills

The annual Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment awards have lauded Phil Cutts, the managing director of defence sector consultancy Coras, for his business leadership skills.

Phil Cutts – who co-founded Coras – was one of three nominees for the Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2021, alongside Darren Schuback and Ryan Carmichael of watercraft safety outfit Whisky Project Group and category winner Chris de Bono, founder of miso supplier Meru Foods.

The Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Program was established in 2016 to help raise public awareness of the skills and experience that the some 6,000 former personnel departing the Australian Defence Force each year can bring to the civilian workforce, with the annual awards recognising both employers of veterans as well veterans who have made a significant contribution as an employee or entrepreneur.

Now overseeing a team of close to 50, Cutts earlier spent almost a decade and a half with the Australian Navy as an electronics technician, during which time he completed an engineering diploma and Masters of Business and Technology with the University of New South Wales. Upon departing the Navy in 2009, Cutts established boutique advisory Lindberg Consulting, which provided services to the Department of Defence.

While Lindberg was successful in winning subcontracts through major players such as Jacobs and Aurecon, Cutts according to his awards bio grew to miss the collaborative team environment characteristic of his time in the Navy, and so set about co-founding Coras in 2015 with a keen focus on people and integrity. This people-centric approach can be evidenced in the company’s employee equity model, along with Cutts’s passionate attitude.

“While very appreciative of the nomination and being a finalist, the entrepreneur tag doesn’t sit well with me,” he said in response to the congratulations on LinkedIn. “It has an individual focus and tends to link to individual achievements. Our success at Coras would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of an exceptional group of individuals. I am humbled by their trust in Coras and excited to see what the future holds.”

Part of that future may be in providing key support to the Australian government on its nuclear-powered submarine program signed under the AUKUS pact, with Coras recently striking a partnership agreement with UK Nuclear and Defence specialists Abbott Risk Consulting. Coras brings local Defence sector and consulting expertise in areas such as business advisory, asset management, governance and assurance, and project delivery.

The nomination of Coras, which has a close to 50 percent veteran ratio among staff, follows that of last year’s entrepreneurial category finalist WithYouWithMe, a workforce transitioning and job-matching organisation for military veterans which topped Deloitte’s Asia Pacific Technology Fast 500 index thanks to its staggering growth.

Meanwhile, Big Four firm PwC has also recently been promoting its Career Evolution programme for veterans and military spouses.