I want young people to see this view and be inspired to pursue careers here on Teesside , knowing they can be part of a special history and a bright future ”
FEATURE
Successor – Charlie with AV Dawson ’ s former MD Gary Dawson .
I want young people to see this view and be inspired to pursue careers here on Teesside , knowing they can be part of a special history and a bright future ”
Charlie started a business and finance HND course and , finally , found something interesting and relevant . He earned a distinction and went on to complete a business administration degree , followed by a masters in marketing and communication .
After successfully building the first stage of his career in IT training , he moved to Middlesbrough , having met his future wife , Sue – a Grangetown girl – at a conference .
Charlie quit his well-paid position as the IT company ’ s marketing manager , took a part-time job hiring portable buildings and immersed himself in Teesside life by becoming a special constable and volunteering for the Samaritans .
“ Middlesbrough was so welcoming , and the people so friendly – it just felt right ,” he explains .
He returned to marketing in a junior role with the North East England Chamber of Commerce , rising to become the NEEC ’ s head of marketing , and taking over as chair of the North East Regional Board of the Chartered Institute of Marketing .
He joined AV Dawson “ by accident ” in 2015 . “ I had a call from PD Ports ’ PR manager , asking if I knew anyone who might be interested in a junior marketing role at AV Dawson ,” he recalls .
He visited the site to meet Gary and head of human resources , Louise Croce , primarily to help with their vacancy , while also hoping to sell them NEEC membership .
“ We clicked immediately . I was blown away by the company but its story wasn ’ t being told , and I knew I could raise its profile ,” he says .
Instead of the junior role , he suggested a higher , strategic position and , when Gary asked if he knew anyone suitable ,
Charlie ’ s instinctive answer was “ Me !”. He joined as head of marketing with the first challenge to embed defined values into the business . They were prioritised as safety , integrity , family and resourceful and , in Charlie ’ s first year , AV Dawson won 11 regional and national awards .
In 2017 , Charlie added sales to his responsibilities , becoming head of commercial and marketing , before joining the board as commercial and marketing director in 2019 . A year later , he led the port ’ s rebranding as Port of Middlesbrough . It was a revival of the site ’ s heritage while looking to the future .
“ I ’ d be at international exhibitions , trying to explain what AV Dawson did , and found myself saying , ‘ We ’ re like a port – and we ’ re in Middlesbrough ’, so the rebrand made sense .”
Charlie ’ s priority now is the restructure , which makes AV Dawson a property holding company with four subsidiary divisions : Port of Middlesbrough , AV Dawson Transport , Cockfield Knight shipping agency and AVD Industrial and Port Services .
“ The company ’ s enjoyed incredible growth under Gary ,” he says . “ He ’ s so unassuming , but he ’ s always known what was
30 | Tees Business