Nick started life as an outdoor instructor (with expertise in sailing, diving and climbing) and was instrumental in the establishment of an outdoor centre in the south of England - “Brenscombe Farm” outdoor Centre. Like many children, Nick had a love of building tree houses, zip wires and rope bridges in trees. Rumour has it he was “asked to leave” his boarding school for building a tree house high in the canopy of a nearby forest from timber intended for a new school theatre. The “retreat” – as it became known, was infamous for wild parties and could allegedly accommodate 30 people. When most children lose interest in swinging about in the trees Nick decided to make it a career.
Nick’s first professionally built ropes course was at Burnbake near Corfe Castle. Before the ropes course was even finished he had a string of would-be clients.
For a number of years Nick lived high in the French Alps with his children but in 2005 he returned to the UK with his family to further the development of RCD and associated companies.
Mat Shaylor and the world’s finest ropes courses are synonymous. He has been involved with RCD from the very early days and before becoming a director of RCD was the longest serving RCD Construction Manager. RCD's success can largely be attributed to Mat, whose attention to detail and a desire to please the customer sets him apart from all others. He has a string of relevant and appropriate qualifications.
Mat’s father built one of the very first ropes courses in the UK and so Mat was actively involved from an early age in the construction, maintenance and inspection of the facility and with assisting in the running of programmes.
Mat has been fundamental in the construction of some 500 RCD ropes courses and is widely considered to be the worlds leading expert in ropes course construction. He lives in Hampshire (when he is not building ropes courses!).
Peter Ducane BEng. MSc (oxon) – Engineering DirectorPeter started work for RCD when he was only 16. Whilst working as part of the RCD construction team he studied for his O and A levels and secured a place at Newcastle University to read Engineering. In 2001 he graduated with a 1st Class Honours Degree and was employed by British Petroleum Plc first in Alaska as a drilling engineer and then off shore in Angola as the rig engineer. In 2005 he “retired” from B.P. with a view to working for RCD again but not before being selected for an MSc in applied and computational mathematics at Oxford University.
R.W. Mann Prize 2001, Institution of Structural Engineers Prize 2001, Cassie Prize for Design 2001, Eustace Percy Exhibition 2000, Civil Engineering Association Prize 2000, R.W. Mann Prize 1997.
Peter now lives near the RCD office in Dorset and has a wide range of interests.
