Would you please pass on my huge thanks to all those from Control Descent who helped us yesterday to achieve our goal. The guys were amazing - and I know for sure had I not complete confidence in them, the procedures and the ropes I would not have been able to do it. You are all a fantastic team and I enjoyed meeting you all and hearing of experiences and brave careers in the Marines. Huge thanks and appreciation for the support, training and professionalism which made it possible for myself and the rest of ‘Girls on Tower’ to achieve our goal. We are thrilled that £50,000 will be contributed to The Royal Marine Charity.

Brian and his cohort have a huge amount of team building and leadership experience to draw upon.  I employed Brian’s services to assist me in delivering leadership training to an international sports team. Their aims were to develop confidence, bonding and problem solving under pressure. Brian was able to meet these aims and ensured that we delivered a successful package.  The result was getting invited back to deliver further training in preparation for a tri-nations competition.  I would highly recommend Brian’s services for anyone wishing to develop their team in the corporate or sporting sector.

"Brian Hayes was the Royal Marine Major in charge of delivering the BT Tower abseil event in 2014. Brian’s expertise in this field was clear from the off and I was very impressed by how thorough he was in his planning and his attention to detail to ensure safety and security at all times. He ensured everyone underwent several hours of abseil training as a requirement before being allowed to take part in the event. Brian gathered all the information required to assess the venue personally and worked very well with our team of BT Tower riggers and other staff who were familiar with the intricacies of this unique building. Brian was extremely helpful in terms of considering all the ‘surround sound’ aspects of the event that were important to me as the client, such as accommodating media and enabling us to capture content for social media use. His approach was firm yet flexible, and he was happy to provide solutions for me that worked within the boundaries of keeping everyone safe. He was also very good at reassuring the abseilers as they were about to step off at the top, and they all knew that the route down and all the equipment had been tested several times, checked and re-checked. Brian’s manner is very calm and this combined with his wealth of experience and attention to detail means I would recommend him to anyone considering organising an abseil event of a similar nature".

I had the pleasure of working with Brian and his team during the opening of the Shard in conjunction with a charity fundraiser for the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund (RMCTF) and the Outward Bound Trust (OBT). The event consisted of abseiling 40 fund raisers including HRH the Duke of York down the 1016 feet of glass and steel structure in 3 stages.  Despite the technical and logistical difficulties associated with the project and the fact that most of those that completed the abseil where novices the day was a huge success.   £2.5 million was raised for the respective charities and the organisers were awarded Charity Fund Raising Event of the year 2012. This success was due to the collaboration of a number of agencies of which Brian’s team formed a significant part.  His ability to problem solve, partner with building managers, media, fundraisers and his provision of a professional and enjoyable pre-training package was key to the overall success of the day.  I would wholeheartedly recommend Brian and his team to anyone looking to achieve a successful corporate or fund raising event.

In 2012 the Outward Bound Trust, working with the Royal Marines, organised an abseil descent of the Shard (the tallest building in Western Europe).  All of the abseilers were novices (the event was organised to raise funds for two charities - the Outward Bound Trust and the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund) and the building had never been abseiled before.  Brian was intimately involved in all aspects of the project - the planning, selection of the equipment, fine tuning the abseil system and training the participants.  Most importantly, Brian was the leader of the 30 Royal Marines who made the descent possible. On the day of the abseil Brian supervised the longest single descent (over 150m vertical meters).

The fact that the project was an astounding success (over £1,500,000 was raised) and all of the abseilers completed the descent uneventfully is testament to Brian's rare combination of skills - he understands the technical requirements of working at height in dangerous and challenging locations, he is well organised and, crucially, he is first class leader who gets the best out of his team. It was great to work with him on such a big project and I look forward to finding further opportunities for collaboration.