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Avalon (pictures: 11)

Avalon was established in 1998?   Basically, what do you do?

Yes, Avalon was established in 1998 by Phil Boyce. We are a highly specialised and innovative abseiling company. We are the first and only BBA approved cavity wall insulation (via abseiling) company in the World. We have now completed just over £3.5m worth of cavity wall insulation across 7 500 homes in London alone.

How come you’re the only company in the World who does cavity wall insulation by rope access?

Well the answer to this is that we developed the system two years ago using rope access.
Traditionally insulating high rise housing has been done using scaffold, which is more expensive and less green.  So if anyone’s looking for a green solution then Avalon is the way to go. Scaffolding a 22 storey building normally takes four weeks, and to pump in the insulation takes a week, with two weeks to remove the scaffold …seven weeks in total, we can do it all in one week!

Well, it is quite difficult to believe that abseiling is a safe method..?

Human nature tells use that the safest place is on the ground, but if you have to work up at height then in fact commercial abseiling is the safest method, especially when compared to scaffolding!
Unlike scaffolding (for which there have been 40 reported deaths last year), in the past 20 years there have been no recorded deaths from commercial professional abseiling.

But it can’t be applied to everywhere?

No it can’t. Some jobs like large plastering /rendering work for instance when you need to go on again and again are best done using scaffolding. However,  4-5 sq mtr  patches of plastering/rendering can be done via rope access, in fact it is much cheaper and quicker if you use abseiling.

But still there’s a spectrum of jobs where abseiling can be applied.

Absolutely. We do almost every job that can be done from scaffold, from stone work restorations, painting, hammer testing and avian netting to jet-washing, glazing and cladding.
Rope access means getting and working anywhere on a building, especially if they have unusual shapes. Abseiling is very versatile and very quick, and of course very eco friendly.

Jon O`Neill

You’ve done a lot of jobs. Is there one you’re really proud of?

I suppose a job we’re really proud of is in the Olympic Velodrome, where we put up nine rows of HD Lighting, each row was 120 metres long and each containment weighed 16.3 tonnes. The whole lighting system was installed by Avalon using rope access methods and some scaffolding (sometimes we do use our scaffolding as well). The Velodrome itself is a very interesting structure, as the temperature inside gets higher the roof physically rises about a metre, so during the process of the project we had to take that fact into consideration. We’ve done a number of other very prestigious jobs such as: Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Tower Bridge.

British customers are quite traditional and your methods are quite innovative. Is there any contradiction?

When people see abseilers at work they think it is dangerous, but, as I said – rope access is very very safe. Nevertheless they traditionally first think about using scaffold or cherry pickers before using rope access, but when the recession started,  people began to look for more cost effective alternatives
If someone has to pay £15 000 to scaffold a building and £5000 to do the job they soon realise that our job quote of £7,000 including the access is almost unbelievable… In the next 5 to 10 years we’ll see more rope access on sites because it’s faster, safer and more cost effective.

But the staff working with ropes must be highly qualified?

Of course.  abseilers have to pass an IRATA qualification before they can get on a rope just to be a level 1 (basic  level)  after that they must show their log book to confirm a 1000 hours on ropes before they can go for their level 2, So to be fully qualified as an abseiler you need about 5 years and 3 000 hours. Also you must work in pairs and observe each other.

The costs of training must be huge?

Training costs are no more expensive than most trades, but the rewards are great and they get to travel and work in some of the best locations in the world.

Interview by
Artur Wielgus