Speakers & Content
2024 Conference content
The Association of British Climbing Walls’ annual conference is the biggest UK event discussing challenges and opportunities within the indoor climbing industry. We connect wall owners and indoor climbing professionals with the latest insights, ideas, and opportunities to drive the industry forward.
Held over two days the event offers a unique learning and networking experience featuring insightful talks, lively panel discussions, practical workshops, and innovation demos.
This year’s conference program focuses on scaling success, in everything from comps to cafes, equipping attendees with a better understanding of what a successful climbing wall looks like in 2024 and the future of industry trends.
Table of Contents
Agenda
09:30 – 10:30
Registration
10:30 – 11:30
Partners& Main Stage
Welcome, ABC update & AGM
11:30 – 12:15
Partners& Main Stage
Panel: Customer Trends & Insights from the Olympics to Community Engagement
12:15 – 14:00
Visit exhibition and lunch
13:30 – 14:00
Breakout Room 1
Round Table: Demystifying General Insurance for Indoor Climbing Facilities
14:00 – 15:00
Partners& Main Stage
Workshop: Industry opportunities and challenges: How to grow and differentiate your business while reducing the risk of accidents
Breakout Room 1
Workshop: Innovative Marketing Techniques to Build Customer Numbers
15:00 – 15:30
Visit exhibition and refreshments
15:30 – 16:00
Partners& Main Stage
Talk: Crushing the Cafe: Strategies for Turning Your Climbing Wall Cafe into a Profitable Venture
Breakout Room 1
Workshop: Engaging with NICAS Ascend: Interactive Product Experience
15:30 – 16:30
Breakout room 2
Round Table: Scaling Sustainable Heights
16:00 – 16:30
Partners& Main Stage
Panel: Fostering Inclusivity in Your Climbing Community
Breakout Room 1
Live Q&A with the BMC CEO Paul Ratcliffe & team
Exhibition Hall – EP & Lemur Climbing stand I1 – 6
Product Spotlight: Board demo
17:00 – 22:00
Offsite at Depot Sheffield
Inside Edge Team Climbing Event
FREE transport, dinner, drink and networking
10:00 – 10:30
Partners& Main Stage
Opening Keynote: Take Strategic Control of your Revenue
10:30 – 11:15
Partners& Main Stage
Panel: Competing for Success: Unlocking the Commercial Potential of Climbing Competitions
Breakout Room 1
TA round table: Supporting climbing walls in risk reduction
11:15 – 11:25
Partners& Main Stage
Climbers Against Cancer (cheque presentation)
11:25 – 11:55
Visit exhibition and refreshments
11:35 – 11:45
Exhibition Hall – Partners& stand H1
Product Spotlight: What if…? Busting the myths around insurance claims
11:55 – 12:25
Partners& Main Stage
Talk: Insights from USA: professionalising the climbing industry
Breakout Room 1
Talk: Launching the Bouldering Wall Instructor Qualification
12:25 – 12:55
Partners& Main Stage
Panel: Climbing Safety – A Unified Approach
12:55 – 14:00
Lunch and end of conference
| Time |
Partners& | Breakout Room 1 |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Opening Keynote | |
| 10:30 – 11:15 | Panel Competing for Success: Unlocking the Commercial Potential of Climbing Competitions | |
| 11:15 – 11:25 | Climbers Against Cancer cheque presentation | |
| 11:25 – 11:55 | Visit Exhibition & Refreshments 11:35 Partners& Spotlight (Exhibition Hall) | |
| 11:55 – 12:25 | Talk Insights from USA: professionalising the climbing industry | Talk Launching the Bouldering Wall Instructor Qualification |
| 12:25 – 12:55 | Panel Climbing Safety: A Unified Approach | |
| 12:55 – 14:00 | Lunch and end of conference |
Take Strategic Control of your Revenue
Gone are the days of opening our doors and hoping for the best. We are all now looking for strategic and proactive control over the revenue of our businesses, and this session will explore, in detail, how we can achieve that: pinpointing the top three key metrics, and identifying best practices for maximum impact on those metrics. Putting in this work at a fundamental level will deliver increased traffic, membership, and revenue of our climbing centres.
Gavin Heverly, Founder & Principal, Rise Above Consulting
Gavin has been working in the climbing gym industry for over two decades. At the executive level he has supported successful private equity fundraising, the development and go-market strategy for a national gym chain, and lead operations, human resources and sales across multiple business units overseeing hundreds of employees and tens of millions in revenue and expenses.
As a consultant, his people-centric approach has driven personalised value connection, engagement and meaningful results to individuals, teams and organisations. Fundamentally, he believes in connecting with the end user to best understand and evaluate their needs. He has impacted a multitude of business metrics by believing that culture = values + behaviour and that you can operationalize organisational values to drive an unparalleled experience for your customer and team.
Gavin leads Rise Above Consulting and his clients via a passion for unleashing the potential of every team member by allowing them to bring their best to work everyday, creates a high performance culture and delivers business results. A respected expert and veteran in the industry, Gavin has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, the BBC World Service, Climbing Business Journal, Indoor Climbing Expo and the Climbing Wall Association Summit.
Insights from USA: professionalising the climbing industry
Join me for an engaging discussion on the future of professionalism in the indoor climbing industry. We’ll explore training and certification programmes, discuss the broader concept of professionalisation, and highlight how these elements can lead to significant business advantages for climbing walls. Whether you’re a climbing professional or a wall owner, discover how investing in these areas can elevate your success and growth in the industry.
Garnet Moore, Executive Director, Climbing Wall Association (CWA), USA
Garnet Moore is the Executive Director of the Climbing Wall Association. With more than 15 years of experience in the climbing industry, he has experience in manufacturing, b2b and b2c marketing, technology, strategic design, and teaching and certifying industry professionals. Garnet is passionate about serving gyms, manufacturers, and the many climbing friends and partners he’s met over the years. His personal goals are for everyone in the world to try climbing at least once and for climbers to be better – in all ways.
Customer Trends Panel: Insights from the Olympics to Community Engagement
Join our expert panel as they explore the dynamic shifts in indoor climbing attendance post-Olympics, uncovering where our industry is seeing growth and where we’re encountering challenges. Gain valuable benchmarks and insights into the evolving relationship between indoor and outdoor climbing, and explore strategies for meeting customer demands and fostering community engagement that works.
Moderator Gavin Heverly, Founder & Principal, Rise Above Consulting
Panellists
Founder and CEO of The Climbing Hangar, co-founder of the Women’s Climbing Symposium, creator of the UK’s biggest UV Climbing Competition and party and the first UK Climbing company to introduce private equity into the industry – Ged’s industry CV is diverse and only just getting going.
Ged is passionate about protecting what’s precious in our climbing culture while it evolves with the times, a flux often seen as conflict but something he believes can benefit both our crags and our sport.
Tom joined this industry formally working first for the Castle Climbing Centre in 2015. Whilst working there he went from Instructor to Duty Manager, gained many MT awards and found a real passion for Coaching.
Looking for a new challenge, he joined Yonder in October 2023 as the Climbing Centre Manager balancing this work with his other job as a Theatre Actor.
Helen has served as the Marketing Manager for The Climbing Academy Group since early 2019, leading marketing efforts across their five climbing centres in Bristol, Glasgow, and Chippenham. Her journey into the world of climbing began unexpectedly at the age of 29, and the sport has since transformed her life – allowing her to climb in incredible locations around the world and in the UK.
Before joining TCA, Helen worked in arts marketing for 13 years before broadening her experience in senior positions at graphic design and publishing agencies. It was her passion for climbing that ultimately led her to work briefly for the ABC and ultimately, TCA, where she could combine her professional expertise with her love for the sport.
With broad experience grounded in effective communications, Helen is committed to making climbing inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
Naomi is an Insight Manager at Women in Sport, where she works to help drive the charity’s innovative and powerful Insight work. Naomi is a mixed-methods researcher with expertise in quantitative, qualitative, and social listening research methodologies. She has contributed to research across the public and private sectors. As a keen climber and runner, she is passionate about the transformative impact sport can have on the lives of women and girls at all life stages. She is driven to use her work to understand and challenge the deeply intrenched inequality that still exists for women and girls in sport.
Join our expert panel as they explore the dynamic shifts in indoor climbing attendance post-Olympics, uncovering where our industry is seeing growth and where we’re encountering challenges. Gain valuable benchmarks and insights into the evolving relationship between indoor and outdoor climbing, and explore strategies for meeting customer demands and fostering community engagement that works.
Moderator Gavin Heverly, Founder & Principal, Rise Above Consulting
Panellists
Ged McDomnhaill, Founder, The Climbing Hangar
Tom Larkin, Climbing Centre Manager, Yonder
Helen Cassidy, Marketing Manager, The Climbing Academy Group
Naomi Morrice, Insight Manager, Women in Sport
Competing for Success: Unlocking the Commercial Potential of Climbing Competitions
How can we make climbing competitions commercially viable? Explore innovative approaches to sponsorship, fostering grassroots support, and encouraging wider participation, while also addressing practical considerations such as streamlined route setting for safety and minimised disruptions. Gain insights into leveraging categories, prizes, and community engagement to optimise the commercial impact of climbing competitions.
Moderator Tim Miller, Head Coach, Boulder Shack
Panellists
Molly Thompson-Smith, professional climber
Mike Langley, The Castle & Blokfest
Joey Powis, The Font & Brawl on the Wall
Zoe Spriggins, Competition Manager, BMC
How can we make climbing competitions commercially viable? Explore innovative approaches to sponsorship, fostering grassroots support, and encouraging wider participation, while also addressing practical considerations such as streamlined route setting for safety and minimised disruptions. Gain insights into leveraging categories, prizes, and community engagement to optimise the commercial impact of climbing competitions.
Tim has been working in the climbing industry for 25 years and is the managing director of Boulder Shack Climbing Gym in Southampton which hosts a variety of local and national competitions. Having coached at National and international levels, he works with the BMC as a provider of the FUNdamentals of Climbing workshops and as chair of their joint safeguarding committee. Tim also works with NICAS as a member of the coaching development team and their screening committee. He is a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and works as a technical advisor to UK climbing providers.
Molly is one of the UK’s leading competition climbers, having competed nationally and internationally for over a decade. She achieved the UK’s first female international lead climbing medal in 2017, and has continued to operate at a high level on the Lead World Cup circuit finishing last years season ranked 10th in the World. Despite her urban upbringing in the heart of London, Molly also found a passion for climbing outside and has aims to push her limits there alongside her competition aspirations. Molly’s long-term goals centre around improving inclusion and diversity within climbing, helping reach more people and communities that aren’t currently well represented in our sport.
Mike has 19 years in the climbing industry, ranging from BBC Sport & IFSC Commentary, facility design and events, to head setter at the Castle Climbing Centre, competition route setting and Blokfest.
Joey is the Founder and Managing Director of The Font, a London-based bouldering operator. The Font was born in April 2021 with the launch of its Wandsworth space, and expanded in December 2022 with the opening of its Borough site. The expansion continues, with site 3 (soon to be announced) due to launch in Autumn this year!
The Font’s annual ‘Brawl on the Wall’ climbing comp has become a major event in the London climbing scene, attracting world-cup medalists and Olympians to compete for the podium positions.
Zoe has been in the climbing industry for over 10 years, starting as an instructor, then progressing to a foundation coach before becoming a climbing wall manager. During Zoe’s time as a wall manger, she started and ran a successful youth climbing squad and was responsible for all squads across the four Awesome Walls climbing centres. She was also on the Management Board for the ABC and was responsible for organising their annual AGM and conference. A change of direction led her work for the BMC as the Competitions Programmes Manager where she has also taken on the role of Para climbing Team Manager and IFSC Europe General Secretary. She has years of experience successfully leading the Para climbing team to international success including multiple World Cup events and the World Championships in Moscow 2021 and Bern in 2023.
Climbing Safety: A Unified Approach
Join us for an insightful discussion on how the Association of British Climbing Walls (ABC) is helping to create a safer and more unified climbing industry in the UK, through its accreditation and safeguarding tools. Our panel will discuss the importance of using ABC’s guidelines, Risk and Safety Data (RSD), and autobelay guidance to establish industry best practices. We’ll also explore how these efforts are perceived by our counterparts in Europe.
This session will provide an overview of the key guidelines and tools available, across both accreditation, risk management and safeguarding. Learn about the importance of identifying key risks in advance and implementing robust policies and procedures. Identify how collaboration and the use of these resources can strengthen and enhance the climbing community in the UK.
Panel
Dan Crossdale, General Manager, Depot Climbing
Nick Cooper, Accreditation Manager, Association of British Climbing Walls (ABC)
Royce Rossiter, Operations Director, Kudos Adjusters
Helen Murphy, Safeguarding Manager, The British Mountaineering Council
Join us for an insightful discussion on how the Association of British Climbing Walls (ABC) is helping to create a safer and more unified climbing industry in the UK, through its accreditation and safeguarding tools. Our panel will discuss the importance of using ABC’s guidelines, Risk and Safety Data (RSD), and autobelay guidance to establish industry best practices. We’ll also explore how these efforts are perceived by our counterparts in Europe.
This session will provide an overview of the key guidelines and tools available, across both accreditation, risk management and safeguarding. Learn about the importance of identifying key risks in advance and implementing robust policies and procedures. Identify how collaboration and the use of these resources can strengthen and enhance the climbing community in the UK.
Dan has been running the Depot Climbing group gyms for the last 15 years and has overall responsibility for all 8 Depot sites. As the Safety Lead on the ABC board he has worked on the development of the guidelines, advising walls in various areas and represents the ABC on both the European Committee for Standardisation and British Standards Institution.
Growing up in the Peak District Nick’s love for climbing and the outdoors started at a young age. He began climbing indoors when he was eight and since then his passion has continued to broaden to encompass all kinds of climbing.
Nick worked as a climbing instructor in his twenties before spending 15 years working for a global non-profit organization, where he managed projects and teams all over the world. He has since been drawn back to the climbing industry, working as an Instructor, Duty Manager, and Centre Manager at multiple centres before joining the ABC.
Royce is the Operations Director of Kudos Liability Adjusters, and proud to be part of the Partners& family.
For the past 15 years, Royce has been involved in the high quality, detailed, investigation and handling of liability claims made against insurer client customers, inclusive of those made against climbing wall centres.
As a result of his involvement with claims in the climbing industry, Royce has developed a keen interest in the sport, and is devoted to not only mitigating the impact of claims in the industry (both financially and reputationally), but to also offering advice and guidance on how to prevent incidents that may give rise to claims from occurring in the first instance.
Scaling Sustainable Heights
Two climbing wall entrepreneurs share their sustainability journeys: one embarking on a new build from scratch, while the other retrofits existing facilities. Gain insights into the challenges, triumphs, and lessons learned as they pave the way towards a more sustainable indoor climbing experience. A question implicit in the discussion will be: if our industry acted collectively in the journey towards net zero, could we get there more quickly?
Moderator
Colin Knowles, The British Mountaineering Council
Panellists
Dave Stevens, Director & Sustainability Lead, 270 Climbing Park
Rich Emerson, Director, The Climbing Academy
Two climbing wall entrepreneurs share their sustainability journeys: one embarking on a new build from scratch, while the other retrofits existing facilities. Gain insights into the challenges, triumphs, and lessons learned as they pave the way towards a more sustainable indoor climbing experience. A question implicit in the discussion will be: if our industry acted collectively in the journey towards net zero, could we get there more quickly?
Colin Knowles, longtime BMC activist and still getting out regularly on rock and ice, is the BMC Area Chair for the South-West and an enthusiastic member of IFSC Europe’s Sustainability Commission. “I believe that Sustainability is not just about the Environment – to get the fully rounded-picture leading to good decisions on sustainability it’s also key to factor in Social, Financial and Governance issues.” Colin was the prime mover behind IFSC Europe’s Sustainability Award, which helps Competition Organisers make their Events more sustainable.
Throughout his 40 years in business David has always been passionate about climbing although professionally has never worked in the sector (at least when you get paid). His career has been spent running commercial laundries both in the UK and consulting and building them all over the world. He is currently CEO of the industries trade association. To feed his passion he opened the Warehouse Climbing Centre in 1994 with his brother and other local climbers in the Gloucestershire area. However, having sold the family business in 2015 this facilitated the opportunity to take the Warehouse to the next level and the concept of 270 Climbing Park was born. With the final phase of the project due for completion in early 2025 270 will hopefully become one of the UK’s go to venues. Building on the business and industry lessons away from the climbing sector has enabled 270 to look at some of the key business challenges from a different prospective. Inclusiveness and sustainability have been key objectives but actually delivering on them has been challenging as generally we don’t have the budgets we would like! David is really keen to share his experience and learn from the session. We still have much to do!
Rich Emerson is the CEO of The Climbing Academy Group and ex Chair and Board Member of the ABC. Over the past 3 years TCA have been undertaking Carbon Emissions Measurements of their business through a third party consultancy. He’s keen to share this experience and the implications of it with wall owners and suppliers to the climbing industry so that the whole sector can rise to the challenge of reducing emissions and achieving net zero.
Diversity and Accessibility in Indoor Climbing
Delve into how fostering inclusivity can have a positive impact on your climbing community, as well as increasing numbers of wall users. Learn from diversity experts as they share actionable insights and success stories for enhancing customer experience, expanding clientele and building a sustainable indoor climbing community.
Moderator
El Temple (they/them), Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Manager, ABC
Panel
Paul Downes (he/him), Strategic Partnerships Advisor (Yorkshire & Humber), Activity Alliance
Sarah Jones (she/her), Senior Development Manager, Access Sport
Ismail Kholwadia (he/him), CEO, The Friendship Cafe
Delve into how fostering inclusivity can have a positive impact on your climbing community, as well as increasing numbers of wall users. Learn from diversity experts as they share actionable insights and success stories for enhancing customer experience, expanding clientele and building a sustainable indoor climbing community.
El is the ABC’s EDI manager, pursuing the values of fairness, equity, diversity, and inclusivity within the climbing industry. They believe that by creating an environment in which everyone has equal opportunities to thrive within the community, a tangible positive impact can be made on an organisation, its employees and its customers. Beginning their role in January they have been focussing their work so far on improving accessibility for the paraclimbing community.
El has a background in Sports Science, specialising in the effect of reproductive hormones on menstruating athletes, and currently serves as the activities coordinator at a climbing wall. Within this role, and voluntary work, they are dedicated to enhancing access and outreach to underrepresented communities. Additionally, they are founder of a London based LGBTQ+ social climbing group, and also working on the EDI committee for ClimbOut- the UK’s first queer climbing festival. They also act as an ambassador for Active Women and Girls, a charity supporting women and girls gain access to exercise and sports.
Paul joined the Activity Alliance in January 2023 to head up the partnership work across Yorkshire and the Humber. He currently leads on managing the relationships with National Governing Bodies of Sport and co-chairs the National Disability Sport Physical Activity Network. He has held several sport development roles in the public, private and third sectors across his career. Most recently Paul has been focussing his work on building insight and engagement with Active Partnerships across his region and he has been successful in delivering various forums that have highlighted themes such as embedding inclusive practices, place-based approach and partnership working.
Sarah is a qualified climbing instructor with over ten years of experience in the industry. With her previous professional experience in adult social care and SEN education, she has combined her passion for climbing and disability inclusion and has developed inclusive climbing opportunities for disabled people through a national partnership project, bringing together national governing organisations, industry experts and those with lived experience. At Access Sport, Sarah leads several disability inclusive sport development projects across the UK, through partnerships, training, and club development.
Above all, Sarah is a former young carer for two parents and a younger sibling, all of whom are disabled individuals with complex health needs. Sarah’s brother, an autistic young man with a complex learning disability, was the inspiration behind the recently developed NICAS Ascend, which Sarah has worked to create alongside NICAS to provide more disabled children and young people opportunities to climb and boulder. She has a deep understanding of the barriers disabled people face when accessing sport, and a passion that the transformational benefits of sport, particularly climbing, can be accessed by disabled people.
Crushing the Cafe: Strategies for Turning Your Climbing Wall Cafe into a Profitable Venture
Discover the secrets to success in running a profitable cafe within your climbing facility. Our expert speaker will delve into menu optimisation, customer experience enhancements, and creative marketing approaches to boost revenue and maximise profitability in your cafe.
Emelia Wilby, Food & Beverage Manager, Longshaw, Burbage & the Eastern Moors, National Trust Café
I have been working in the Hospitality industry for 11 years now, mostly within the independent scene in and around Sheffield but for the past 3 and a half years I’ve been a Food & Beverage Manager with the National Trust, based in the Peak District.
I’m super passionate about the industry, what the hospitality industry means to people and seeing establishments make a success of their people and places.
Demystifying General Insurance for Indoor Climbing Facilities
An informative session on general insurance, covering its fundamentals, coverage scope, emerging claims trends, and crucial tips for ensuring comprehensive coverage. Bring your questions and engage directly with industry experts to gain clarity and confidence in safeguarding your climbing facility against potential risks.
Facilitators
Sophia Reed, Mutual Manager, & Ralph Doe, Account Executive, AIM (Activities Industries Mutual)
An informative session on general insurance, covering its fundamentals, coverage scope, emerging claims trends, and crucial tips for ensuring comprehensive coverage. Bring your questions and engage directly with industry experts to gain clarity and confidence in safeguarding your climbing facility against potential risks.
Sophia has been the Mutual Manager of the Activities Industry Mutual (AIM) since January 2018 and works closely with the Chairman and the Board of Directors as well as the team who look after the Members. AIM provides liability cover to those working in the adventure activity industry covering both indoor and outdoor sectors. She oversees the Underwriting team for both new business and the renewal process; regularly visits Members to discuss their requirements and issues affecting the various sectors of the Industry; organises Members Events and networking opportunities for the Members; and speaks at Sector and Industry events. She also manages the Mutual’s relationship with the Mutual’s Supporting Insurer. A defendant insurance lawyer for 24 years prior to joining AIM, she brings a wealth of experience in terms of risk assessment and claims defensibility to the role and regularly meets with Members to advise on claims defensibility and risk management.
She enjoys running, especially half marathons, as well as hill walking, cooking and whisky.
Ralph joined AIM in 2017 from a background insuring and supporting some of the UK‘s largest charities providing adventurous activities to young people. With over 20 years’ experience in the insurance sector Ralph is an accredited Insurance and Risk Management professional who supports AIM members with site visits, technical advice and all aspects of coverage requirements.
Industry opportunities and challenges: How to grow and differentiate your business while reducing the risk of accidents
An interactive session where we will workshop different offerings and business models that can work for you. Understand the human factors behind accidents and explore ways to mitigate them.
Facilitators
Kath Hipwell (she/her), CEO, ABC
Garnet Moore (he/him), Executive Director, Climbing Wall Association (CWA), USA
An interactive session where we will workshop different offerings and business models that can work for you. Understand the human factors behind accidents and explore ways to mitigate them.
Kath is passionate about sport and its powerful positive impact on the body and mind. She has loved the mountains and climbing since she was a child and is now enjoying introducing her own children to her friendly local wall, NICAS and the outdoors.
Kath is responsible for the development and execution of the ABC’s strategy: working with the board and partners to promote the professionalism, health, growth and diversity of indoor climbing.
Garnet Moore is the Executive Director of the Climbing Wall Association. With more than 15 years of experience in the climbing industry, he has experience in manufacturing, b2b and b2c marketing, technology, strategic design, and teaching and certifying industry professionals. Garnet is passionate about serving gyms, manufacturers, and the many climbing friends and partners he’s met over the years. His personal goals are for everyone in the world to try climbing at least once and for climbers to be better – in all ways.
Innovative Marketing Techniques to Build Customer Numbers
Get to grips with customer profiling strategies and cutting-edge marketing techniques tailored to the climbing industry. Discover how leveraging different sports, gym users and outdoor climbers can serve as a powerful catalyst in attracting and retaining enthusiasts to indoor climbing facilities, ultimately boosting participation numbers and community engagement. Understand more about community engagement, and the best ways to cultivate welcoming environments that not only attract new customers but also foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity.
Facilitator
Sophie Rearden, Director & Business Development Manager, Tide Climbing
Sophie Rearden is a seasoned business manager and company director with over 12 years of experience in strategic business development, specialising in business startups and growth. She holds a BA (Hons) in Business Management, is a Chartered Manager, and is currently pursuing an MBA in Senior Leadership. Sophie’s expertise includes securing startup capital, marketing, business strategy, and transformational leadership. As the Executive Director of Tide Climbing Centre in Cornwall, she excels in business growth, partnerships, and focuses on sustainability and innovation.
TA round table: Supporting Climbing Walls in Risk Reduction
Explore the role of a TA (Technical Advisor) in working with climbing walls and how they can input to operations as an external expert, helping to reduce the possibilities of accidents and providing advice to improve operations.
Facilitator
Pete Nellist, Climbing Development Officer, Active Stirling
Pete is the Climbing Development Officer for Active Stirling in Scotland, a sports trust for the Stirlingshire area. He focuses on developing climbing in the local community through schools, clubs and organisations.
He has been climbing since a young age and has widely varied experience in the sector, from wall-management to outdoor instructing and summiting 6000m peaks.
Pete holds the Mountain Training Mountaineering Instructor Award and is a Ready to Rock course provider for Mountaineering Scotland. He is also an ABC Board member.
Engaging with NICAS Ascend: Interactive Product Experience
Discover NICAS Ascend in an immersive session where our team will guide you through hands-on interactions with our latest product. Engage directly with the features and provide instant feedback, shaping the future of our innovative solutions.
Sarah Jones, Senior Development Manager, Access Sport
Nicholas Parkin, Managing Director, NICAS
Discover NICAS Ascend in an immersive session where our team will guide you through hands-on interactions with our latest product. Engage directly with the features and provide instant feedback, shaping the future of our innovative solutions.
Sarah is a qualified climbing instructor with over ten years of experience in the industry. With her previous professional experience in adult social care and SEN education, she has combined her passion for climbing and disability inclusion and has developed inclusive climbing opportunities for disabled people through a national partnership project, bringing together national governing organisations, industry experts and those with lived experience. At Access Sport, Sarah leads several disability inclusive sport development projects across the UK, through partnerships, training, and club development.
Above all, Sarah is a former young carer for two parents and a younger sibling, all of whom are disabled individuals with complex health needs. Sarah’s brother, an autistic young man with a complex learning disability, was the inspiration behind the recently developed NICAS Ascend, which Sarah has worked to create alongside NICAS to provide more disabled children and young people opportunities to climb and boulder. She has a deep understanding of the barriers disabled people face when accessing sport, and a passion that the transformational benefits of sport, particularly climbing, can be accessed by disabled people.
Nicholas Parkin is the Managing Director of the National Indoor Climbing Award Schemes (NICAS), where he has led the organisation since 2019. Under his leadership, NICAS has expanded its delivery and outreach, promoting climbing education and safety across the UK and internationally.
Prior to his role at NICAS, Nicholas was a Leisure Management Consultant, where he provided strategic insights and solutions for various clients from 2011 to 2019. His experience also includes managing London’s largest public sports facility, where he successfully handled operations for a venue with over 600,000 annual visitors. Additional client roles included Sporting Director at Westway Sports and Fitness, which led to record revenues across all sports, and in particular, climbing.
Nicholas holds a robust track record in business development, strategic planning, and operational management, making him a respected leader in the sports and recreation industry.
Live Q&A with the BMC
Join the BMC for a live Q&A. Put your questions to the team and hear about the BMC’s current and upcoming projects.
Questions in advance are encouraged, specifically around the following topics:
- Development opportunities for climbing participants and the workforce
- Your Climbing Counts survey
- BMC fundamentals course and other workshops
- Safeguarding for all
Paul Ratcliffe, CEO
Helen Murphy, Safeguarding Manager
Dan Middleton, Climbing Development Manager
Join the BMC for a live Q&A. Put your questions to the team and hear about the BMC’s current and upcoming projects.
Questions in advance are encouraged, specifically around the following topics:
- Development opportunities for climbing participants and the workforce
- Your Climbing Counts survey
- BMC fundamentals course and other workshops
- Safeguarding for all
Launching the Bouldering Wall Instructor Qualification
Learn about the upcoming Bouldering Wall Instructor qualification scheme, set to launch in early 2025. Discover how the course will operate, what we seek in providers, and the application and induction process to become a key part of this exciting new initiative.
Guy Jarvis, Executive Officer, Mountain Training England
Guy is the Executive Officer of Mountain Training England.
Prior to holding this post he was a Director of Undercover Rock in Bristol, the first plywood climbing wall in the world! He was responsible for a team of 25 indoor and outdoor climbing instructors and was the founding Chair of NICAS, as well as a technical advisor to the sector and provider of MTE qualifications.
Exhibition Hall Product Spotlight: What if…? Busting the myths around insurance claims
Claims will always be made – but that doesn’t mean your business becomes a cash machine. Join Lucy Luckett and Royce Rossiter to find out what happens when a claim is made and how working with the right broker can help you build a robust defence.
Lucy is Claims Manager, South at Partners&. She has worked in insurance for all of her career, previously working for a large Insurer as a team manager handling both property and casualty claims.
Liability claims are Lucy’s speciality, and she works closely with clients and Insurers; more specifically those with a large work force or public footfall. In addition, Lucy has vast experience in assisting clients in the hospitality area, childcare and gyms, providing advise and support and managing their liability claims.
Lucy’s passion is for her clients to have the best service and the best advice, supporting and advising our clients and challenging the insurers to ensure the right outcome.
Royce is the Operations Director of Kudos Liability Adjusters, and proud to be part of the Partners& family.
For the past 15 years, Royce has been involved in the high quality, detailed, investigation and handling of liability claims made against insurer client customers, inclusive of those made against climbing wall centres.
As a result of his involvement with claims in the climbing industry, Royce has developed a keen interest in the sport, and is devoted to not only mitigating the impact of claims in the industry (both financially and reputationally), but to also offering advice and guidance on how to prevent incidents that may give rise to claims from occurring in the first instance.
