VERTEX TRAINING - Key Persons
David grew up on the West coast of Scotland and has worked extensively across Scotland and the rest of the UK and currently resides in Lincolnshire.
David is currently training to become a paramedic but still delivers training for us when he can! He has worked at and managed a number of ropes courses across the UK
Eddy has a massive passion for the outdoors! Surfing, climbing, mountaineering, skydiving, running and biking: he loves them all.
Ellis is a passionate climber and outdoor enthusiast who enjoys the local Dorset scene and adventure experiences found in the UK and abroad
He started life off working in West Sussex outdoor activity centres and local climbing walls before completing a BA Hons in Adventure Education. This progressed into teaching outdoor education in further education and he is now a senior lecturer at the University of Chichester.
Emma Bell - Chief Commercial Officer
Emma has worked in the outdoor industry for nearly 20 years, and been with Vertex since 2014 when she and Steve went into business together.
Jim is based in north Wales and has a long career in the ropes course and adventure park industry and joined the Vertex leadership team in July 2022.
Job Titles:
- Certification and Admin Support
Kate is responsible for ERCA & Vertex Certification as well as general admin support for Vertex.
Job Titles:
- Trainer
- Member of the Local Coastguard Team
Kerry has been working in the outdoor industry for the best part of 20 years and is the only female ERCA Master Trainer.
Kerry is also a member of the local coastguard team which do search and rescue, water rescue and cliff rescues. When she isn't working, being a mum, or busy with the coastguard Kerry likes to get out on her mountain bike, do adventure races, climbing and lots of walking along the coast path.
Paul has worked in the ropes course industry since 1994 as a trainer, constructor and inspector. He is one of Europe's leading ropes course inspectors.
Through his own business Capstone Inspections he carries out inaugural, periodical and operational inspections for 1000s of operators across the UK and Europe. He is an accredited wire rope examiner, qualified tree surgeon, PPE inspector and has an industrial ropes access qualification. He also holds an inspection certificate from Drop Zone to inspect the Powerfan.
Phil is one of Vertex's most experienced trainers, with excellent people skills, enabling him to quickly build successful relationships with the clients.
He is SPA qualified, a level 2 BCU coach, a qualified PPE Inspector and holds the RCD Assessors Award, and is one of only a handful of ERCA Master Trainers. Phil has his own business Green Man, and has been working in the outdoor activities industry for over 30 years and in that time has built up a wealth of knowledge and a fantastic reputation. He is a passionate believer in the use of ropes courses as a means to help people grow and maximise their potential.
Rob studied Geology, Coastal Geomorphology and Ecology at University and is an active climber.
He runs his own businses Portland Climbing and has been an instructor for over 29 years, working with adults and children in a group environment as well as in a one-to-one coaching setting. He creates a great atmosphere to enable, enthuse as well as enhance and validate knowledge.
Rowenna grew up in North Wales and is a keen runner, and lover of outdoor swimming, mountain biking, climbing, paddle boarding and yoga
After studying English at Manchester Metropolitan University, she was interested in the idea of teaching others, and the love of the outdoors drew her to her first instructing role at an activity centre for kids. From there, she moved to the heart Snowdonia, Llanberis, and worked at Zip World for over 6 years, training new and old instructors at all 3 of Zip World's sites. Eager to continue learning new things and pushing her comfort zones, she recently qualified as a Water Rescue One Technician, which she will hopefully use one day to teach others In 2018 she gained her ERCA Trainer qualification and started work for Vertex. She loves travelling to all parts of the country and meeting the array of people she has to train and enjoys the buzz of when she is able to make sense of something they didn't understand before, giving them a new skill and experience
Steve's been climbing things since he was small and so it's no surprise that he's made a career out of his passion.
Steve Woods was the first Director of Training for ERCA and was instrumental in developing the training syllabus and systems that we see today;
Steve Woods served as on the Executive Board and General Board of ERCA;
Will was brought up in the flat lands of Norfolk, and quickly fell in love with the outdoor activities while studying for an outdoor education degree.
Since then has worked around the country with various outdoor centres and more recently settled in sunny Dorset working with Vertex and other local providers, as well as running his own rock climbing business. Will has a friendly and open minded approach to teaching. He also runs and owns a coffee roasting business called Carve Coffee! When not training with Vertex Will can be found rock climbing on the sea cliffs, in the water surfing or roasting his coffee beans.