OIA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- CEO
- CEO / CEO of the OIA since August 2011
- Our Chief Executive
Our Chief Executive, Andrew Denton will take centre stage to deliver the conference agenda and explain what the OIA had been doing over the last 12 months.
Andrew has been working in the outdoors since 1984, starting his career in outdoor education and then moving on to a series of senior management & ownership roles in businesses such as Rohan, Mountain Equipment, Sprayway, the Outdoor Sports Company and now ownership of several indoor climbing walls.
He is best known as the modern founder and co-owner of the international technical brand Mountain Equipment where he built the brand over 17 years and then sold in 2003 to The Bollin Group. Andrew has been CEO of the OIA since August 2011.
Job Titles:
- Development Board Chairman
- Development Board Chairman / Commercial Director, SportPursuit
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member / Managing Director, Countryside Ski & Climb
Job Titles:
- Board Member / Managing Director, Bradshaw Taylor
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member / Marketing Director, JD Outdoor
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member / Managing Director, Bradshaw Taylor
Job Titles:
- Founder and Chief Exploration Officer of Slow Ways
Dan Raven-Ellison is Founder and Chief Exploration Officer of Slow Ways, the grassroots phenomenon to create a national network of walking routes that connect all of Great Britain's towns, cities and national parks. His work focuses on challenging himself and others to see the world in new ways. He does this by combining creative exploration, geography and communication to tackle social and environmental challenges. Dan is a guerrilla geographer, National Geographic Explorer, OS GetOutside Champion and is the founder of the National Park City movement. He's also a co-author of the Mission:Explore children's outdoor activity books and produces short films, including " The UK in 100 Seconds". You can connect with Dan on Twitter at @DanRavenEllison.
Job Titles:
- Development Board Member / Head of Corporate Communications and CSR Equip Outdoor Technologies
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- Development Board Member / Wholesale Manager, Snow Peak
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- Board Member / Commercial Director, Craghoppers
Job Titles:
- Employee Owned Trusts
- Managing Director at Lyon Equipment
Jonathan Capper is the Managing Director at Lyon Equipment Limited and has been with Lyon for 38 years! Probably time for him to retire you might think. Not at all! There is still plenty for Jonathan to do at Lyon, especially after their change to employee ownership in May 2022.
Jonathan joined Ben Lyon back in the eighties when there was a team of three making caving ladders, selling caving equipment and Petzl headtorches from a small shed in the Yorkshire Dales. The business today employs nearly 100 talented staff and operates out of a purpose-built facility on the edge of the M6 between the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. Lyon manufactures products and distributes leading brands to retailers in the outdoor, water sports and cycle markets. Additionally, it is a leading supplier to the work at height and rescue industry with its own training facility.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member / Managing Director, Outdoor & Cycle Concepts
Job Titles:
- Board Member / Country Manager for Adidas Outdoor
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- Board Member / Managing Director Bridgedale Outdoor Ltd
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member / CEO, Equip Outdoor Technologies
Mike will be sharing some consumer insight and feedback from the National Outdoor Expo 2022 and the developing vision for the National Outdoor Expo 2023.
Nick has been Chief Executive of The Outward Bound Trust since 2006.
Nick Chamberlin has worked in the fields of active travel, sport and physical activity for over 20 years in the UK and Australia. Nick's role at British Cycling is to represent the interests of the organisations 150,000 members across a diverse cycling and sporting landscape. Equitable access to the outdoors is of significant importance to the future health and wellbeing of our society. Enabling more responsible cycling access in the countryside is of great interest to the organisation and is of vital importance to the future sustainability of the sport of cycling.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Member of the Board
- Chairman / Managing Director, Ordnance Survey Leisure
In October 2013 Nick took on additional responsibility for retail business at OS and in September 2015 also took on the executive responsibility of Director of Marketing & Communications. He became a Non-Executive Director of Dennis Maps Ltd in December 2015. Nick now leads all consumer activity within OS with the focus on helping more people to get outside more often.
In May 2018 Nick also became a Board member of the UK Outdoor Industries Association and is now the Chair of the Association.
Nick is an avid outdoor enthusiast, an enthusiastic mountain biker and is passionate about the benefits of an active outdoor lifestyle.
In January 2022 he was awarded an OBE for his work in improving the health of the nation.
Job Titles:
- Development Board Member / Key Account Director at Brandwave Marketing
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- Development Board Member / Co - Founder of Flock Together, Founder and Creative Director, Futurimpose
Job Titles:
- Development Board Member / Corporate Partnerships Manager, Youth Adventure Trust
Richard Pyne is the current custodian of Páramo Directional Clothing and possesses over a decade of experience working for the brand. He began his career at the business working at the Páramo shop in Wadhurst. Subsequently he worked his way up to store manager and then in 2016, he joined the head office team. Richard has been in his current role as Commercial Director for the last four years.
Prior to joining Páramo, he spent 12 years working in the Theatre industry in the UK, across various technical roles, both as resident and touring staff. Eventually settling in a theatrical workshop as a carpenter and metalworker, he became the head project and workshop manager for almost 8 years before leaving to take some time out to look after his (then) 1 year old son. This led him to take a part time job in the Páramo shop and begin his ten year career at Páramo!
The outdoors has always been a place that he escapes to. Riding his bike and exploring the many hills, paths, rivers, and coastlines around the country provides an escape from the now all too familiar, zoom calls and in addition, offers the opportunity to enjoy our rich and varied environment.
Job Titles:
- Board Member / Managing Director, AMG Group
- Development Board Vice Chairman
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Board Member / Managing Director, Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports
Job Titles:
- Development Board Member / Senior Design Manager, Alpkit
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member / Director General, the Camping and Caravanning Club
- Director General of the Camping
Sabina Voysey is the Director General of The Camping and Caravanning Club, and is also a board member of the OIA.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chairman of the Board
- Board Vice Chairman / Sales Director, Keela
Job Titles:
- Club 's Head of Communications and External Relations
Simon McGrath is the Club's Head of Communications and External Relations and an author in the outdoor sector.
Singer, actress and TV personality Suzanne Shaw became a member of the chart- topping band ‘Hear'say' in 2001, selling over 1.5 million records and holding a world record for the fastest selling non-charitable single. She won series 3 of ‘Dancing on Ice', was series regular Eve Jenson in the popular UK soap opera ‘Emmerdale', and has numerous West End and touring theatre credits.
From the age of 19, Suzanne has lived under the scrutiny of the media, which in-turn played a big part in her 19-year battle with her mental health. After years of unhealthy living and anti-depressants, Suzanne had finally had enough of living this way and went on a mission to find her ‘happy' again.
At the start of 2020, Suzanne completely changed her lifestyle - quitting alcohol, changing her diet to plant-based, taking up running and studying nutrition, mindfulness and coaching. Determined to change the perception of mental health, along with the overwhelming pressure and information from the fitness and diet industry, Suzanne documented an honest account of her journey through her online platforms and was overwhelmed by the response from her audience and the media.
Since then, Suzanne has thrived within the wellness industry and made quite the name for herself in the running community. In May 2020, she ran for 19 hours, covering 60 miles, all to raise awareness for the 19 people who take their own lives every day in the UK and raising money for the suicide prevention charity, ‘Samaritans'. This has led to her becoming a public speaker, speaking and running workshops at the National Running Show, Festival of sport and in schools around the UK.
Job Titles:
- Development Board Member
- Development Board Member / Senior Buyer, Go Outdoors
Will Pike is a disability rights campaigner, public speaker, and disability consultant. His work is centred around the normalisation of disability and seeks to address the barriers, both physical and prejudicial, that prevent disabled people from accessing society.
Will draws on his own lived experience as a terror attack survivor and disabled man to explore themes such as adversity, masculinity, identity and diversity.
He has been a guest on programmes including Good Morning Britain, Victoria Derbyshire and Sky News; and has written articles in The Times, iNews and Huffpost. Will's film ‘Yes I Can, If' went viral in 2016 and has been viewed by over a million people on Facebook and YouTube.
Will works with The Hobbs Consultancy and is always available to discuss your company's approach to disability inclusion.