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Some notes on Peak Activities Ltd's background & history....
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Finance Director - Caroline Jennings BSc PGCE and ROCK LEA (above)
Several of our customers have asked if we would include some "background history" on our company web site, so here we are...In the late 1970's a small group of enthusiastic trainers, Geologists, post-graduate Ecologists & Foresters led by Iain Jennings decided to set up a business based initially in Edinburgh, where Iain had been teaching and undertaking research at the University's Department of Forestry & Natural Resources Management. The initial aims were to have fun sharing our love of the Great Outdoors and to turn in a profit now & again. That was the start of S.E.A.L. GUIDES - which was primarily involved in the designing & running of unusual outdoor based courses, interpretive guided tours, expeditions, cross-country skiing courses, & skills-transfer events for groups and individuals from hostels and local centres in the Scottish Highlands and the Peak District.
Founding fathers : Iain & Tony Kendall. The great popularity and demand for events in the Peak District soon became apparent - and our operation moved down to Sheffield in 1981 and started specialising in running events in the magificent Hope Valley. Thanks to the work of people who were drawn to us then and who still work in our team now - such as Tony Kendall, John Thomas, Caroline Farnes, Pete Brookes, Ben Church, Steve Pope, Carole Wheeler, Dean Peck, Alan Robinson, Vicky Gamblin, Lesley Roddick Harris, Angela Groves and many others, we have developed an enviable reputation as one of the foremost providers of outdoor based activities in the Peak National Park.
J. Thomas : one of our long-serving part time tutors who is a computer manager when he's not helping out at Rock Lea.
Caroline, ( seen above with tv celebrity Ian Wright ), is now our Finance Director. She met Iain as a customer on a Hillcraft training course which Iain was running at Edale YHA with local mountaineer and climber Alison Jane Hargreaves. Alison later went on to much greater things and became the first woman to climb Everest oxygen free. Sadly Alison tragically died climbing near the summit of K2 some years later.
Angela Groves :
Dr Ed Silva :.....
Lesley Roddick Harris : We're not sure if we're the best small family run outdoor training and activity providers - but for over 25 years now we've been striving to be perceived as one of the most reliable, and safest team of facilitators. In 1980 we were appointed the principal contractor for organisations such as the YHA at Edale and elsewhere and for the CHA at Hope - with lots of help and encouragement from wardens such as Dave Nicholls and Bill Hindle ...who helped us to arrange and run some very popular and successful programmes from their venues.
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... Our corporate client list quickly started to log the names of some very well known blue-chip organisations from the UK and elsewhere in Europe...and heaps of nice unsolicited clients' kind comments and endorsements started rolling in...thankfully they still keep coming !
Rock Lea's instructors Ben, Iain, Kev, Caroline, Ed, Andy, John, Steve & Alan at Iain and Caroline's wedding. Most of the above are still active instructors working at Rock Lea from time to time ...and we are still very much a family based business. Iain was slimmer then than now ! Like many of our early clients, Caroline came back for more courses with us ( such as mastering cross country skiing in the Cairngorms with Iain and Cameron McNeish). She was back for work experience during her PE teacher training and rapidly became one of our junior tutors. Being impressed she acquired the company ( just like the guy in the Remington adverts). A much slimmer-than-now Iain married fellow director and our fellowship opened ROCK LEA Activity Centre, which became SEAL GUIDES new home-from-home. As Dave prepared to move from Edale YHA the team felt it was time to break out from our tiny base in Sheffield and expand into providing residential bunkhouse style accommodation for our customers in the unspoiled village of Hathersage. Rock Lea became a success - with courses there being highly - acclaimed on BBC radio and on numerous TV programmes - & with rave reviews in media such as the Sunday Times and Telegraph. All the enthusiastic part-time volunteer SEAL GUIDES instructors pictured above nearly 20 years ago are still working with us. today. All those in the photograph were customers before they asked if they could come and join our unique fellowship. They're now a senior psychiatrist, a health & safety inspector, a geology teacher, two chartered engineers, a computer manager & a production manager. Caroline was a secondary P.E. & Outdoor Education teacher then but is now our limited company's Director i/c Finance and Administration..
Rock Lea was a great home from home for people to stay in. In one year alone no less than 550 delegates came and stayed at the centre just from Land Rover. However, it is rarely used as an accommodation base for training clients nowadays because as tastes and budgets have changed. Many clients prefer to stay in single en-suite rooms in adjacent hotels conference centres & guest houses. Others prefer to camp on nearby camping sites.One of the training conference centres we used for many yars until it closed and went into private ownership in 2005. Meanwhile our offices and store rooms & classrooms keep expanding and an endless stream of visitors and friends seem happy to fill up the rest of our space !
Wing Commander Peter Daughtrey MCIPD MRAeS Team Building Events and Development Training are now the principal core businesses for our company. However, we still run "jolly" fun events just for fun - because we still love running them and it motivates our staff who like to enjoy the variety of different kinds of course through the year ! Moreover, delighted clients who have seen what we can do over jolly sports weekends often return as corporate business partners...or to train up for NGB awards to become part of our unique training team. Comments from happy corporate customers...
In 1997 two of our five directors retired and we recruited a new non-exec. director. Eileen (doesn't look a day over 59 !) now spends lots of time wandering around the Chinese Himalayas, Spain, Norway etc. looking at her beloved Alpine plants with husband David - and taking care of their grandchildren at Rock Lea and elsewhere. "Grandma and Poppa" still help out at the centre with guided walks and, most importantly, helping serve those endless cups of tea we need to ward off dehydration ! Meanwhile ex-director Keith Marsh stood down to set up a new life and career with his new wife. Keith's huge impact in setting up our computer systems as our IT expert is a debt that can never be repaid. Peak's Activities team of three remaining directors Caroline, Tony and Iain formally took over the running of the business. Peak Activities Ltd had already taken over the two other operations some years ago. However, as the name of this web site implies, the firm is still very much Iain's small and friendly personal business - with a very strong commitment to looking after all our customers and maintaining their safety at all times. Iain's door is nearly always open to customers during office hours ! Peak Activities is still a small family business which has been lucky enough to do business successfully with some pretty serious-sounding organisations over the years...although we trust we've still got the wisdom not to take ourselves too seriously...and to remember why we set up the firm in the first place ! :-) Whether you come to us alone or with a huge group you'll get a warm and friendly welcome - especially if you've looked after us in return and paid your bills on time ! We'll treat you with complete honesty and integrity - and, if we may, as a small family run business we'll expect nothing less from you. We often find our corporate clients have a "culture fit" with our staff. They work hard, play hard, take their professionalism and safety very seriously but know how to relax and have a good time once the day's activities are over.
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MAIN INDEX... or perhaps try the comprehensive Alphabetical Index
OUR TEAM OF TUTORS... more about our other tutors & instructors...
"ADULTS ADVENTURES" HOLIDAYS & WEEKENDS...
MANAGEMENT TRAINING DIVISION...
The various activities you can do with us....
Selections of kind messages from a selection of our partners & satisfied clients...
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