At oxfordjet, recruitment and selection is managed in-house, and we generally use informal group interview scenarios and assessment days to identify leading talent, get the most out of applicants on the day and follow-up with one-to-one interviews. We look for personality every time!

"Whatever your age or background, great service is a gift you either possess or you don't. You don't have to be an aviation guru, but you do have to be great with people, polite, courteous and can-do in nature. Our team come from airline, hotel, media and even property retail backgrounds, a real mix.

"My background is mostly in sales and marketing roles, also PR, service delivery, and even airline IT solutions. The change to business aviation was more stark than expected, but good service is good service, and that transfers favourably from commercial airlines to private jets."

"My role is general management, overseeing the FBO operation, going after new business and steering airline route development strategy for the airport. Budgets sit with me, and I wouldn't want to detract from anyone's front of house role to sidetrack them with paperwork and spreadsheets.

"We've been asked to accommodate a plane load of protected monkeys destined for another airport. As a pet approved airport for animal importation, that brings some unusual sights, sounds and smells. We also had an urgent charter enquiry to rush 30 folk to the Channel Islands, only to find out they were schoolchildren going to a birthday party. The catering request was going to be rather messy for the cabin crew!

"About 10 cups of coffee and no time for lunch underpin a typical day, but otherwise the nature of every day changes. I spent much of winter last year shovelling snow and monitoring weather forecasting websites!

"Would I recommend my job to a friend? To my friends in general, yes – without any question. As for my best friend, no – I'd hate to have to put up with them going on and on about FBO life all the time.

David Surley, oxfordjet