Military service leaver staffing specialist ForceSelect has signed a partnership agreement with Employment and Skills Group (esg) to provide training and job opportunities for armed forces personnel set to join civvy street in the future.

The service provides soft skills such as interview coaching will be available alongside specific job training in sectors as diverse as business administration, healthcare, warehousing, storage and IT.

ForceSelect founder, Hugh Andrée, says: “ForceSelect has grown immeasurably since it was launched last year and agreeing a partnership with esg is a great opportunity for us to expand our services and extend our office network across the UK.

“These defence cuts are a huge blow to the UK’s national security and with more than 17,000 service personnel set to lose their jobs in the next few years, ForceSelect thought it was vital that we enhance and extend our offering to provide as comprehensive a service as possible.

“UK companies should see this as an opportunity to recruit some of the best young talent this country has to offer. ForceSelect has already seen a significant increase in candidates at all levels and the Ministry of Defence’s loss is the private and third sector’s gain.”

Under the terms of the deal, ForceSelect will open offices in Sheffield, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Cardiff and Manchester or Liverpool over the next three years, enabling them to assist a greater proportion of the growing number of service leavers across the country.