A Cheltenham company has celebrated its launch as a new stand-alone business with bold expansion plans that could lead to the creation of more jobs.

CDS Defence Support held its launch at its offices in Alstone Lane with its 75-strong team of employees and Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk in attendance.

The company is regarded as a key employer in the area providing engineering support directly to the Ministry of Defence and to the MoD's prime and sub-prime contractors.

With a turnover of more than £5 million in 2016, CDS Defence Support aims to double this figure by 2020 and also increase its workforce considerably.

Mr Chalk said the company's best days were still to come and that he was, "proud to be an MP of such an inspiring town, full of businesses that run purely on people".

Mr Chalk also presented employee Dan Sambell with a certificate to celebrate achieving his Senior Apprenticeship in Engineering with the company.

CDS Defence Support had been a hugely successful division of CDS, a UK privately-owned company employing approximately 270 people, but now, as a standalone operation, it is targeting an even brighter future.

Richard Bradley, managing Director of CDS Defence Support, expressed the company's wish to further its support to the Reserve Forces over the coming year.

CDS already has a solid reservist presence within its ever-expanding workforce with more than eight per cent of employees as serving reservists.