Careers event held at Catterick Garrison

The business community is lending its support to thousands of servicemen and women leaving the military, either through choice or because of defence cuts.

A careers event has been held at Catterick Garrison, Europe's largest, bringing together dozens of employers looking for potential recruits or offering training and showing those leaving some of the jobs on offer.

It was organised by British Forces Resettlement Services, a non-profit making social enterprise, which supports serving personnel, veterans, reservists and their families during the transition from military to civilian life.

It estimates that up to 20,000 people leave the forces each year, with many reaching the end of their term of service. Redundancies due to government defence cuts have also added to the figures.

The government plans to cut the Regular Army from 102,000 to 82,000 in 2018, while doubling the number of Reservists to 30,000.