A FORMER member of the RAF who struggled to find work after he left the forces has set up a recruitment company specifically for ex-military.

Kayam Iqbal, aged 33, noticed the gap in the market when he left the Royal Air Force in 2010 after 11 years of service.

Despite some assistance from the Ministry of Defence, he struggled to fit back into life on civvy street, because there was no specialist recruitment agency to help.

He was left frustrated when he was given false hopes from various recruitment companies and sent on job interviews that did not match his skills.

This inspired him to create his own company, OppO Recruitment, and sister website JobOppO, which both offer CV advice, training and work experience opportunities.

The company, which is based in London but is also opening a branch in Bury in a few months, has grown quickly and now Mr Iqbal, also from Bury, is teaming up with military charities such as Help for Heroes and Combat Stress and fundraising with the help of Labour councillor James Frith.

Mr Iqbal said: “Moving on to Civvy Street was quite hard and I ended up doing bits of jobs here and there before I was finally given a break by a telecom company.

“I had to beg them to give me an opportunity to prove myself, and surprisingly they took me on despite my skillset not being IT based.

“I knew a lot of ex-servicemen and women that didn’t have any opportunities and I thought that more should be done for people who leave the military, so I gave up my job and set up Oppo Recruitment.”

Mr Iqbal, who went to Holy Cross College, said the company has grown from strength to strength.

He said: “I wasn’t expecting it to get so big. We’re supported by Total Jobs, and huge corporate companies like Asda and Iceland.

“With Job Oppo we put people in work experience and we sponsor people to do different courses.

“In the military there are up to 40 different trades, such as engineering, IT and mechanics, and we specialise across the board. Soldiers come to us and we look at their CV and tell them what they would be suited to.

“Most recruitment agencies give you false hopes, but you shouldn’t lead people on. We are much more realistic.

“We are London based but we plan to get an office in Bury in three months.”

Mr Iqbal joined the RAF in 1999 and was part of the first wave of troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. He says that experience has driven him to help support military charities through his company.

He is hosting a charity night on September 4, in London to raise awareness for the charities and Cllr Frith is representing Bury Armed Forces Covenant, which is a statement of mutual support between civilians and its local Armed Forces community.

Mr Iqbal said: “When we saw the injury and death in Iraq, it was really hard to come to terms with.

“It really put my life into perspective, which is why I’m working with charities.

“I’m part of Bury Armed Forces Covenant along with Cllr Frith and on September 4, we have a charity night that’s hopefully going to create awareness for them.”

Cllr Frith added: “I’ve been invited as a guest because of my Armed Forces Covenant title which means that I’m working across the council services so that ex-armed forces are looked after in the area. There’s a huge role to play for local government to ease the transition into civilian life.”