Simon was a respected Physiotherapist and Moving & Handling Practitioner with a wealth of experience.

He was an international conference speaker, published author, and served as Chair of the National Back Exchange for six years. His contributions were recently recognised with an Honorary Membership for his outstanding work in the field. Simon's legacy of dedication and expertise continues to inspire all who had the privilege of knowing him. He will be deeply missed.

Text courtesy of William Merritt Centre

Julia first became interested in manual handling when she trained as an orthopaedic nurse in Oxford before qualifying as a Registered General Nurse at Guy's Hospital in 1985. Continuing her nursing career at Guy's Hospital, she became the manual handling trainer for students, care assistants and qualified staff in her department.

She increased her nursing experience working in acute trauma, general medicine and with the elderly, whilst continuing to update her moving and handling skills courses at the Disabled Living Foundation in London and facilitators courses in Leeds. 

Julia then began to develop the moving and handling training and consultation business in Leeds with her physio husband.  Julia's practical skill and experience and Simon's physiotherapy experience stood them in good stead to create complete courses in back care and manual handling. Julia is an Advanced Member of NBE.

Julia then gained the Adult Teaching Award NVQ Level 3 and became an active member of her local group of the National Back Exchange, serving as a committee member for a number of years, culminating in 4 years as Chair of Yorkshire group. She became of member of NBE's Equipment Review Panel and was the Equipment Review Editor for The Column for a number of years.

Following time serving on the organising committee of her local Back Exchange group in Yorkshire, Julia was elected as a Regional Officer on the National Executive Committee of National Back Exchange (NBE). In September 2010 Julia became the National Secretary of NBE and in September 2011 she was elected unopposed to the position of Chair of NBE Executive Committee. Julia completed this role in 2014 and Now sits on the NBE Professional Affairs Committee, which she Chairs.  In this role, Julia has co-ordinated the update of the Skills for Health E-learning modules, a complete update of the Moving and handling section of the Core Skills Training Framework, and the Health Education England E-learning package .

She was one of the Co-Editors of the 6th Edition of the Handling of People series and was the author of the chapter on Core Hoisting Skills.

Julia co-delivers the 6-Day Facilitators course which was awarded 'Approval as a Professional Event' by the RCN. The course has been adapted for a number of institutions and organisations including for Sheffield and Huddersfield university healthcare lecturers and Bradford Special schools. She is currently the manual handling trainer for a number of private hospitals across the North. 

Manual Handling advice and training has been given to a number of care homes for the elderly, homes for children and adults with special needs, hospices, schools and nurseries, as well as staff within PCTs, local councils, private agencies and mental health trusts across the North of England. 

Julia is currently the consultant for a Case management company and undertakes individual risk assessments, writing reports and delivering bespoke training for clients with complex handling issues.

In her spare time, Julia enjoys yoga and has just recently discovered the excitement of growing her own vegetables.  She spends occasional weekends with a historical re-enactment group demonstrating and talking about her real interest – cooking for the soldier and family of the Napoleonic period.  Julia spent two weeks at the Paralympic Games in 2012 as a Gamesmaker, driving a golf buggy around the Olympic park supporting spectators with mobility problems.  She has three children who have all left home and a rather mad but loveable dog.

Catherine is the person you are likely to deal with on the phone and via email. She keeps everything in the office running smoothly so that Julia and Simon can focus on the training.

She has been working for LPS since 2001 and, as the business has expanded, so have her responsibilities and importance within the team.

She finds time to do other things in her life including learning Portuguese having previously graduated with a BA in Italian Language Studies from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2013. She is an ex-international cyclist and thinks nothing of a quick 45 miles on a Saturday morning!

Catherine also enjoys many other sports and activities, all of which stood her in good stead when she served as a Commonwealth Games volunteer in 2002 and became a drug-testing chaperone.  She has continued this work at a number of prestigious national sporting events ever since. These include working at the Aquatics Centre in 2012 for both the Olympics and the Paralympics and she was at the Triathlon and Mountain Bike venues for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.