Meet the team

Alex Whittingham

A former RAF TriStar Captain, Alex founded Bristol Groundschool in 1992 and authored most of the ATPL course material that has set the standard for ATPL theory training in the aviation training industry. Alex was also the first in the industry to develop computer-based training software to deliver ATPL theory courses online, and has taught thousands of BGS students over the last two decades, including Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson and English rugby union stars Rory and Tony Underwood.

Ian Young

Ian Young

Ian is one of our full-time instructors; he is also one of our early students, completing his ATPL exams with BGS in the late 90s. Ian began his aviation career as a flying instructor and then spent 18 years with a major airline, flying both the B737 and the A320 series of aircraft. Ian teaches aircraft performance and principles of flight.

Rod Wren

A former RAF Pilot and QFI with over 45 years in aviation, Rod has extensive experience in the flight training industry as Head of Training at Oxford Aviation Training and CTC Aviation Training and Founder of CTC Aviation Training. Rod is the Bristol Groundschool director responsible for managing customer support, software development and the production of course materials.

Peter Macdonald

Peter is our Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor following 24 years in the RAF he has extensive experience as an ATPL Instructor and CTKI in the UK and overseas. Peter’s main subjects are Flight Planning, Meteorology and Operational Procedures.

Gill Fowkes

A B2B and B2C Communications specialist with over 25 years’ experience for business development and marketing. Gill is responsible for managing customer and partner school relations and sales. She is also responsible for marketing and business development.

George Selman

With over 12 years experience as a customer service and technical support specialist, George is our IT Manager, responsible for software support and development, the Technical Support Team and ISO 27001 compliance.

Henry Blight

Henry is our Wings Alliance Training Administrator. He is responsible for administrating the Wings Alliance programme and supporting the BGS Sales and Marketing team. Henry is also training to become a Commercial Pilot and has a PPL licence.

Josh Howells

Josh is our BGS Customer Relations Advisor and is responsible for responding to student enquiries and supporting BGS students in training. Josh is also training to become a Commercial Pilot and has a PPL licence.

Matt Hayes

One of our team of full-time instructors. With extensive commercial helicopter experience as a pilot, manager and consultant in the UK, Africa and Middle East, Matt teaches Mass & Balance, Air Law, Human Performance and AGK.

Chris Keane

One of our team of full-time instructors. Chris was an army helicopter pilot/instructor for many years, and teaches AGK and Mass & Balance, and helps out on other subjects.

bgs team

Nick Lapham

Nick is one of our full-time instructors. He has 5 years of work experience as a commercial Bush Pilot in Zimbabwe, operating flights to some of the most remote and challenging areas of the country. Nick teaches Flight Planning.

John Crosland

One of our contract instructors, John has a background in the RAF as a Flight Engineer and an extensive career as an ATPL Ground Instructor. John’s specialist subjects are Air Law, Human Performance and Radio Navigation.

Sue Wivell

Sue is our Accounts Administrator, responsible for doing the accounts for the organisation.

Courtney

Courtney Philogene

Courtney is our Customer Service Executive, supporting our partner school accounts.

Chloe Venn

Chloe is a member of our Marketing and Sales team. She is responsible for processing orders and dispatch of training materials.

Amy Lambert

Amy is our Digital Marketing Executive, responsible for the planning and execution of our online marketing strategy.

Tristan Wren

Tristan is our First Line Technical Support Advisor, responsible for helping customers with technical queries, software testing and is also a member of our Courseware Team.