Our Team

Our success depends on the quality of our people.  At the core of our business are our directors and a central team of very special people who ensure the highest standards of operational support.  To make sure that we always connect with our clients’ needs, we have built a fantastic team of Associates.  Collectively, we offer a broad span of experience from qualified outdoor development training instructors to highly experienced facilitators and business consultants.

Rod Pashley - Founder and Managing Director
Rod has over 30 years of experience as a Development Trainer.  His early career was in Local Government but before too long he headed south to work with the British Antarctic Survey for 2.5 years.  From there he moved to the Outward Bound Trust, one of the UK’s largest outdoor development training organizations, where he spent 16 years gaining extensive international experience - particularly in Africa and in the U.S.A.   He eventually returned and became the Principal of the Scottish Centre.  In the business world he works as a consultant to many major corporations including Shell, BP, Motorola, Cooper Cameron (UK),  Bass Brewers, Scottish Courage and Technip Offshore.  Rod continues to travel and expedition and sees this as vital to maintaining energy and vision.  He is a keen skier, qualified mountaineering instructor, scuba diver and occasional fly fisherman.

Barney Mackie - Director of Knowledge & Innovation
Barney has been involved with people=positive™ since 1995.  He has considerable training and development experience and a creative flair which adds colour and richness to any programme.  He moved from a career in teaching to outdoor education in 1985, working for the Abernethy Trust, where he set up and became the Director of the Trust’s Ardgour Centre in Lochaber.  Barney has an inspiring and very hands-on approach that works at all levels within organisations.  He is a qualified ski instructor, mountain leader and accomplished musician.

Tony Mitchell - Commercial Director
Tony is the Commercial Director of people=positive™ in the UK and VP of Operations in the USA with the launch of our office in Houston.  In addition, he plays a major role in  developing and delivering our development and facilitation programmes.  He joined the business after 21 years with BP, where he started his career as a research chemist.  His interest in business led him to various roles in the Oil and Gas production arm of BP, particularly in strategy and business development.  What really inspired him was developing high performance teams and that led him to engage people=positive™ in various BP projects.  He enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to join the company!

David Robertson - Director of Opportunity
David spent 15 years in marketing with some of the world’s leading advertising agencies before moving into people development and coaching.  He spent 8 years in the Far East, in Hong Kong and Indonesia where he was the Managing Director of OgilvyOne, the direct marketing wing of the Ogilvy & Mather.  His role as an expatriate manager was largely focused on coaching and human resource development and this experience gave him a passion for working with teams and individuals to release their potential.  He is a trained personal and business coach and he moved to the Highlands of Scotland in 2004 with his young family.   After a great year working with people=positive™ he joined the business as a director in November 2005. In addition to delivering programmes for clients, he is also responsible for marketing and business development.   Out of work he is a mountain biker and photographer.

Helen Walker - Finance Manager
Helen has been part of the people=positive™ family since 2001.  After graduating from Strathclyde with a BA in Business Administration and Economics, she spent some time with the Foreign Office in London.  However, ultimately her love of the outdoors overcame city life and she moved to sportscotland's National Outdoor Training Centre - Glenmore Lodge - as Office and Finance Manager.  Apart from her family, Tim, Kirsten and Tana, her main interests continue to be out of doors: walking, sailing; paddling, skiing and golfing.  She has a particular interest in Disability Snowsports UK and has led groups to various parts of Europe and North America.

Donna Marshall - Business Support Manager
Donna was in the process of making a move to the Highlands to set up home when we were lucky enough to recruit her in to the business.  A graduate of Hull University with an honours degree in Law, she has a background in management, having spent the previous 10 years working for Orange - so she brings a real wealth of experience to our business.  She has a keen interest in alternative therapies and has begun to study Reiki and Heather has become a very ’’willing guinea pig!"

Heather Burns - Business Support Coordinator
Heather joined us having owned and run an independent book shop for 10 years.  She trained in Management and Catering originally with a spell in Special Needs Youth Training.   

Dave Latham - Principal Consultant
Dave has been part of the people=positive team™ for the last 5 years and acts as a senior consultant delivering safety culture, leadership and team development programmes.  His experience of working in development training goes back 20 years and he has worked with groups on expedition, in the classroom and in the workplace.  Before that, he worked for a major oil company as a well site drilling supervisor and that industrial experience helps him to understand and connect with his clients.  He’s happiest operating with people in the outdoors where he can help the experience make the difference.  Dave is a qualified outdoor professional and when not working he can be found skiing, canoeing, kayaking and walking to interesting places or just sitting still on his croft in Aberdeenshire.  Dave holds a First Class Honours Degree (BSc) in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen and a Masters Degree (MSc) in Logic and the Methodology of Science from Sussex University.

Sam Weir - Consultant
 Sam, has worked with us as a consultant for 6 years and runs his own outdoor activity business Kayak Scotland which provides sea kayak guiding throughout Scotland.  He has lived in Scotland since 1990 and during that period has worked coaching and guiding outdoor activities to a wide variety of user groups.  When not working he enjoys spending time with his partner Melanie, getting out mountain biking and enjoying the Scottish coastline in his sea kayak.

Chris Whitehead - Consultant
Chris, a Certified Professional Facilitator conferred by the International Association of Facilitators, works regularly with us as a consultant.  He has years of experience of facilitating change in the Finance, Health, Oil, Transport and Public Sectors and has designed and facilitated interventions in Europe, USA, Asia and the Middle East.  He is particularly skilled at facilitating large-scale interventions where there are high profile issues, as well as facilitating conferences, workshops and training sessions focussed on improving H S & E.  In addition to facilitating and spending time with his young family, he somehow finds the time to referee league rugby matches – a skill which he says helps him a lot in his work.

Dave Craig - Consultant
Since attending Moray House College, Edinburgh in the early 1970’s, Dave has worked extensively in the field of education.  In 2000, following 25 years teaching mainly in the LEA outdoor centres, Dave formed his own company specialising in Open Canoeing and, in the winter season, instructing and assessing teachers and youth workers in Ski Leader qualification.  Dave has worked as a consultan associate with People= Positive since 1999.  Twenty-five years a member of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team has led to his becoming an accomplished first aid trainer and assessor.

Neil Millward - Consultant
In addition to running his own consultancy business, Neil has worked with us as a Consultant since 2002.  He comes from a background in the outdoor education / voluntary sector where he spent many years setting up and running projects for the personal development and training of young people.  When not working, he is often helping with young people’s projects or teaching archery in his local area.  He is a powerboating and VHF instructor and holds a BSc in Chemistry and an MBA.

Fiona Begbie - Consultant
Fiona has been teaching occupational health and safety in higher education since 1992.  She has experience of developing and delivering graduate level education, working with groups in the classroom and with practitioners in industry.  She is has a specialist interest in occupational stress management, positive psychology and mental health promotion (MHP) and has been involved in regional policy development, inter-disciplinary training, and policy implementation audit.  To top off her impressive list of achievements, she has also completed a Masters Degree in Education undertaking research into critical thinking. 

Karen Darke - Consultant
Karen spent 8 years working in the oil and gas industry for Shell before joining the People Positive team.  Originally a geologist, she re-trained in the field of development training, after a climbing accident which left her paralysed initiated her passion for how people learn and develop.  She is a trained coach and learning and development specialist.  Her personal experiences have led her to work as an author and motivational speaker covering topics of overcoming challenge, teamwork, leadership, change and risk (see www.inspireandimpact.com).  Karen holds a PhD in Geology, an MA in Development Training and a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and Earth Science.  She is also a qualified coach, NLP practitioner and complementary therapist.

Peter Cable - Consultant
Prior to coaching leadership in the commercial world, Peter was a senior infantry officer with a deep interest in leadership development at all levels.  Leaving the army in 1998, he became a director of a leadership development company, delivering powerful programmes of personal leadership development to middle and senior managers drawn from major clients across the commercial and public sector.  He is married and lives in the Black Mountains in South Wales.  He does not have children but brings up two Labradors, a cat and chickens!!  He is a passionate traveller, enjoys keeping fit, trekking and motorcycling and has a Private Pilots Licence.

Angus Crockett - Consultant 
 Angus comes from a management background in manufacturing and engineering over a period of 16 years.  Having graduated from York University with a physics degree he spent the early part of his career in textiles and managed a plant in Durban, South Africa.  His interest in people and employee relations encouraged him to become a Human Resources Manager with Rolls-Royce plc in the Marine sector of the business.  Having completed his MSc in Strategic Human Resources Management and with itchy feet he set up his own management consultancy business in 2006 and works for People=Positive as a consultant. Angus is proud to have been a venturer on Operation Raleigh’s Zimbabwe Expedition in 1990 and never misses an opportunity to get out climbing, walking or mountain biking in the Peak District with his wife Angela.   

Jonathan Hill - Consultant
Jonathan is a qualified coach, NLP practitioner and Emotional Intelligence (EQ) consultant with training programmes fully accredited by the International Coaching Federation.  Prior to setting up his own coaching practice, Jonathan enjoyed ten years blue chip corporate experience holding senior management positions with Coca-Cola and Red Bull UK.  As well as 1:1 executive and personal coaching at all levels of seniority, Jonathan is highly experienced in team development and facilitation.  His delivery of work includes bite size performance workshops and team building and development workshops, focussing on three key themes: Visioning for success, talent engagement and corporate health checks, with experiential learning delivered via a sailing theme or land based ’crystal maze’ type challenges.  Jonathan has worked with a number of high profile companies including the BBC, Welsh Assembly Government, Leaseplan, Lexis Nexis and Pfizer.

  
Steve Howe - Consultant
A life-long passion for the outdoors led Steve to a multi-facetted career with The Outward Bound Trust which culminated in his appointment as the Trust’s Director of Communications and Director of Fundraising - a period which witnessed the charity’s spectacular revival and growth.  In 2005 he was honoured with membership of The Royal Victorian Order for his services to the Trust.  As a Consultant, Steve brings to clients the value of his expertise in working with a wide range of corporate clients on diverse issues.  He specialises in helping senior teams to develop and implement coherent community investment policies, advising clients in the outdoor sector on developing major incident plans and managing the media.