Home Business Awards & Achievements First Choice Celebrates 25 Years of Success

First Choice Celebrates 25 Years of Success

First Choice Recruitment, the trusted experts offering a personal approach for clients and candidates throughout the Wakefield district, is celebrating after reaching a key milestone; 25 years in business.

Launched by Andy Turner and Anne Lockwood in 1993, First Choice Recruitment has since become the longest standing independent agency in Wakefield, supporting thousands of people to find employment across a diverse range of sectors including manufacturing, retail, hospitality and leisure.

The team of eight, based in the centre of Wakefield, work with a range of clients including leading blue-chip companies, SME’s and ‘one-man bands’ to meet with their recruitment needs and find the candidates that are right for each role.

Andy Turner comments: “Turning 25 is a big deal. Times have changed, there is no doubt about it, but we are very pleased to be one of the longest serving independent agencies in the Yorkshire region. Very few organisations can say that they have been around a quarter of a century and that they still love what they do!”


“We have so many stories to share and that’s what makes our day job so rewarding. Knowing you have made a difference to someone’s life and that you have helped them to reach their potential is a great feeling. It’s about building relationships and offering a personal service and that’s what we have always been about.”

With a selection of case studies to share, just one example would be Roy Durham; a keen sportsman who after many years found himself out of work after being made redundant from his career in food preparation.

Despite having years of experience, Roy found it difficult to find a role that would allow him to transfer his skills.

Working with First Choice Recruitment, Roy was sent to a manufacturing and distribution facility and was given training as a temporary worker. The temporary position became permanent, which led to promotion in 2010, and as a Supervisor Roy could once again look forward to a career that he could rely on.

Roy is also looking forward to celebrating 25 years in his role as a Supervisor with the same company that he was placed in more than two decades ago.

Roy Durham comments: “When I was first made redundant I just didn’t know what to do. I’d never stepped inside a recruitment agency. It’s just not what I ever thought I would be doing! It’s fair to say when you work in the food industry you think you have a job for life. I hadn’t planned for anything else, this is all I knew.

“Thanks to First Choice I now love and believe in what I do. My family’s life style is just out of this world. It sounds daft but coming from where I came from – a very humble beginning – I am now doing things that I never ever thought that I would be able to do and that’s going right back to First Choice and them giving me that opportunity.”