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Chas Dowton

As head of First Choice Staff, Chas Dowton has over 25 years’ experience as a recruitment specialist serving clients in freight forwarding, shipping and logistics.

He began his career in 1977 working in the import department of the DC Andrews Ballantyne cargo agency. Moving into the commercial environment, he later worked for both OCL and Alltransport.

In 1980, he took his first post in recruitment, soon becoming Branch Manager in London and using his freight industry knowledge to source new staff for customers in the sector. This ultimately led to the creation of his own business with a partner, TAC Recruitment, headquartered at Heathrow Airport that was to open five branches over a six-year period.

In 1989, he formed the successful Chas Dowton Associates and three years later was approached by a national group that wanted to add a niche freight service to their portfolio. Recognising the special requirements of shipping, forwarding and logistics clients, in June 1994, he launched First Choice. The company has grown significantly in recent years and is highly regarded by its blue chip client base as the leading name in freight recruitment. Today, the company has branches in Ashford, Middlesex, Slough, Essex, Peterborough, Birmingham and Manchester serving customers and jobseekers across the whole of the UK for all of their permanent and temporary recruitment requirements.

Simon Ward

Simon Ward heads up First Choice Corporate, providing a full consultancy solution for businesses looking to buy, sell or merge.

Before becoming a director of First Choice in 2000, Simon had spent over 30 years in the freight forwarding industry. He began his career with EMG Air Services, a subsidiary of P & O. The business later became Pandair, the number one IATA airfreight agency at the time.

After Pandair, he joined Hudson Freight Services, a specialist in the oil and gas sector during the time of major development for the industry in the North Sea. Later joining Mercury Airfreight – another leader in the UK market – he once again focused on the development of vertical industry sectors, this time healthcare and publishing.

In 1974, he joined Guestair, a subsidiary of the Harris & Dixon Group, as Branch Manager in Norwich. After successfully building the company’s presence in the East Anglia region, he returned to London as Operations Director for Guestair to develop its ocean and airfreight business.

He became a shareholder and Managing Director of Guestair in 1985. Growing the company to a £20 million turnover, it was sold in 1994 to a US-based Public Company. In 1996, Fritz Companies, the San Francisco-based global logistics specialist purchased the UK business and Simon was appointed MD of Fritz Companies in 1997.

Ashford

Manchester (Contact Recruitment)

Essex

Slough

Birmingham

Peterborough

All Branches