Nicol Kindness

Consultant

Email: n.kindness@berwicksconsultants.com

Nicol left the Army in 2005 after 9 years as an officer with a Scottish infantry battalion, The Royal Highland Fusiliers. He served at several locations in Great Britain, Germany and Cyprus in a variety of demanding roles. He conducted large-scale training exercises in Britain, Canada and Jordan in order to prepare for operational duties in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq – gaining a wealth of experience in crisis management. Nicol’s last job with the Army was as a Major in command of 165 personnel.

Nicol had the dubious pleasure of joining the Army just as deployments to overseas hotspots became a regular occurrence. These provided excellent opportunities to practice command and control. His roles changed with each operation: starting off at the front end with his soldiers then moving back into command centres. He set up and ran numerous command centres to deal with many real-time emergency incidents. Away from all this activity there was time for some more leisurely command and control; he was captain of the ski team.

Since leaving the Army, Nicol has worked for a company providing specialised drilling equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry, overseeing major operational projects. He started consulting for Magnox and British Energy in February 07. Nicol also likes to get involved in renovating old properties. Away from work, Nicol is a qualified ski instructor based in the Swiss Alps. When there is no snow, he can be found on foot, biking or climbing in the mountains.

Training experience:

Amongst other things, Nicol was directly responsible for training soldiers in readiness for operational deployments on 3 occasions: Bosnia in 1999, Northern Ireland in 2001/2 and Iraq in 2005. He is also a professional ski instructor for a top school in Verbier, Switzerland teaching a wide range of ability.

Training Qualifications:

• Army Mountain Expedition Leader: 1997
• Joint Services Ski Instructor: 2000
• Battalion Training Officer: 2000 – 2002
• Junior Commanders Staff College: 2002
• British Association of Snowsports Instructors Level 3: 2005