How one ex-soldier left the British army and found a second life in banking

When Kevin Gartside was medically discharged from the British army in 2012 after three tours of duty in Iraq, he was unsure what to do next. He saw cross-over appeal in banking, an industry with a surprisingly flat operating structure that prizes punctuality, teamwork, adaptability and decision making.

When Kevin Gartside bid farewell to the British Army in 2012, he left behind the only professional vocation he had ever known.

He didn’t want to leave. On his third tour of duty in Iraq he was injured – not gravely but enough to prevent him from leading from the front. As he puts it: “I could no longer put my house on my back and lead soldiers up a hill.”

The resulting medical discharge came as a shock.

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