FORMER Army personnel are playing a crucial role in helping to plug the future skills gap by training for civilian careers.

The Tees Valley Engineering Partnership (TVEP) is promoting the recruitment of ex-forces members as a means of filling job vacancies for its engineering member companies.

According to experts, there are about 1,500 skilled engineers who leave the Armed Forces every year, at least 150 of whom seek new careers locally.

Now, a specialist training initiative has been set up in the region, partly subsidised by the TVEP, to help ease the transition between careers.

Two conferences have been held by TVEP at Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, which were attended by scores of soldiers and forces personnel keen to meet a range of employers and training providers from the engineering sector face-to-face.

Malcolm Potter, manager of TVEP, said jobs were already being offered to people who attended the events at Catterick.

"There is a national labour deficit within the engineering sector, which is expected to worsen unless the issue is addressed soon," he said.

"Personnel leaving the Armed Forces often have a range of transferable skills and practical engineering experience, which makes them ideal candidates to alleviate these shortages.