Steve is Managing Director of Black Mountain and has over 40 years experience in leadership development and operating in high performance teams. After an 18 year career in the military he set up Black Mountain in 1988. He has worked with global clients at every level and specialises in Organisational and Cultural Change Management and Risk and Crisis Management assignments.

He is professionally qualified, a member of the CIPD and holds a postgraduate qualification through the Army Command and Staff College where he has lectured on the management and leadership of change. In his previous existence in the Army he was awarded the MBE in 1986 at the age of 34 for operational gallantry in Northern Ireland.  He held operational command in the Middle East and served in Canada, the Far East and Germany.  He was a senior instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and an exchange officer at the West Point Academy.  He has extensive experience in leadership and specialist terms.

Steve is married with six children and has a 40 acre farm in South Wales which keeps him busy in his spare time!  He also enjoys rugby, golf, hill walking and outdoor pursuits.

e-mail: steve@black-mountain.com

Steve has worked with Black Mountain since 1995. He is a training facilitator and coach and has worked with many clients in a variety of projects throughout the world. In 1991 Steve set up an outdoor pursuit company teaching navigation, rock climbing and caving. During this time he recognised the power of the outdoors when working in personal development and moved into facilitation and course design for his own clients and Black Mountain.

Steve has worked extensively in many countries. Such an example was taking students from a London High School to assist in community projects in India and Africa. One of his trips was part of a three phase project building a primary school for the Maasai people living in the Kilimanjaro basin, Tanzania. He has worked on similar projects in Kenya and Rajasthan and Ladakh in India. He is also currently absorbed in co-founding a charity which will expand on his previous work, including people of all ages and backgrounds. The charity’s aim is to help the participants personally develop by realising their potential, their impact and their value.

Steve lives in South Wales with his wife and two sons. His passions include walking, skiing and to his wife's concern, he is becoming drawn to paragliding.

e-mail: info@black-mountain.com

Ed has been involved in delivering training with Black Mountain over the last 10 years.  His experience and knowledge comes from 25 years in community development, delivery of experiential learning opportunities to teams and coaching work with a diverse range of individuals from young offenders to senior personnel in private, public and third sector organisations.

He is professionally qualified in the field of community education.  His style is value driven, person centred and influenced by educational thinkers such as Carl Rogers and Paulo Freire.  Ed delivers coaching programmes for his own clients alongside his continued involvement with Black Mountain and other training companies.

Ed has led overseas expeditions and worked on community projects with teams from the UK in Africa, India, Vietnam, South America and South Africa.  He is a qualified mountain leader and climbing instructor.  He lives in rural Wales with his Angami wife.

e-mail: info@black-mountain.com

Martin has a wide range of experience in the field of training, development, coaching and facilitation. He provides training and coaching in Management, Interpersonal Skills, Training Skills, Presentation Skills, Sales Skills and in Effective Team Work. He also helps organisations in developing effective Change Management and provides Executive Coaching in a number of industries. He has worked with a variety of people including board directors, non-execs, engineers, mal-adjusted boys, sales teams, undergraduates and professional trainers.

Martin was educated in London and initially worked in the City as an underwriter. He has subsequently worked as a salesman, manager, and trainer for a number of blue chip organisations. In 1993 he set up MRT Group as an independent training and consulting practice based in Cheltenham. He has worked as a consultant to small as well as multi-national businesses for over 11 years and has been involved in development and training for over 20 years. He is a CMIPD as well as being a Fellow of the CII.

Martin is married with 3 children and lives in a Victorian farmhouse in Gloucestershire. His hobbies include rugby, tennis, the history of London, boxing with people much smaller than himself and truly abysmal DIY.

e-mail: info@black-mountain.com

Michael started at Black Mountain in November 2008. He has a BSc and MA in Political Studies from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and the University of Sheffield, in specific political topics including terrorism, research methods and theory. He has experience of working in both the public and private sectors, having worked at the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Assembly Government, following on from several internships in Public Affairs.

He lived and worked in China for two years where he also studied Chinese at the University of Xiamen. He speaks and writes Mandarin Chinese and has taught and trained at a variety of levels over the past five years. During this time he travelled extensively throughout Central and South-East Asia, including taking part in the 2006 Mongol Rally. This involved a 10,000 mile drive across Eurasia for charity…in a 1 litre Fiat Panda!

Michael continues to study Chinese and has recently started to learn Spanish at Cardiff University. In his spare time he enjoys playing tennis and badminton, and is a keen follower of both rugby and football.

e-mail: michael@black-mountain.com

Sam has worked at Black Mountain since 1991. After taking a career break in the mid-nineties to raise a family she returned to the company and is both a training facilitator and book keeper.

Sam is a Human Resources graduate and prior to arriving at Black Mountain she worked at London Underground between 1985 and 1991, during which time she became the youngest ever female manager at the organisation. In her position at London Undergroud Sam fulfilled various human resource positions.

e-mail: samantha@black-mountain.com

Simone has been PA to the Managing Director at Black Mountain since February 2008.

e-maiil: simone@black-mountain.com