The high life

A former marine from Wigan went up in the world after he learned the ropes of a new career

- Angela Kelly

Matt Lavery is at the height of his career. In fact, his days are generally spent hundreds of metres above ground attached to strong ropes in a business that is definitely on the up.

He daily enjoys the high life – along with panoramic views of some of the most spectacular vistas in the North West – as he and his teams undertake all kinds of height work from cleaning and renovating church towers to pest and rubbish control high in football stadia.

Matt’s high rope business specialises in getting up to places – and, sometimes, down to places – which are particularly hard to reach. And the specialist work requires all his considerable skills as he is well aware that a significant percentage of the thousands of people injured at work each year come from falls from high places.

His love affair with heights and his unusual business, however, would never have happened if Matt hadn’t had “a rogue, very traditional scoutmaster” looking after the troop he attended as a young lad in Preston.

‘He was very keen on hunting and similar challenging activities so he did all kinds of things with us scouts – including dropping us off in the middle of the Lake District on our own for a couple of nights,’ recalls Matt.

These early lessons in resilience not only fostered a sense of independence but also got young Matt interested in outdoor activities. So, when he attended a scout camp in Devon and they visited an open day at the Royal Marines’ commando training centre in nearby Lympstone, he was completely hooked.