Managing the UK’s biggest and busiest climbing wall is one of the top jobs in the climbing industry, so when The Castle announced it was recruiting for a CEO, the news attracted a lot of attention.
The current Managing Director, Audrey Seguy, was stepping down after ten years at the helm to start a new business (and life) in southern France. She leaves The Castle in a strong position with over 200,000 visits a year and plans underway for even more growth. The Castle is also one of the largest employers in the industry with over 70 employees on just one site. Characterised by a unique building (yes, it really looks like a castle!), The Castle recently celebrated twenty years and has just secured a further twenty year lease for the building.
The recruitment process took about three months and involved a number of stages and tests to progressively narrow down the field. We are pleased to announce that we were successful in finding a candidate and are delighted to announce that Duncan Howard will be the new CEO. Duncan has been climbing for over 20 years, much of this at The Castle. He comes from a housing background with over 25 years professional experience in housing associations. His last position was with the Southern Housing Group, a large housing association with 28,000 homes in their portfolio. As Regional Director (London), Duncan was directly responsible for 7,000 homes and has developed many skills which we are confident will transfer well into indoor climbing.
The Castle is using this opportunity to restructure its top management. Founder and outgoing CEO, Steve Taylor, will become the Chairman of the board of Directors. Audrey Seguy will remain involved as a non-Executive Director. The Castle also has two centre managers to oversee the day to day operations- Ben Levey and Efua Uiterwijk.
For more information visit The Castle Climbing Centre Website.
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