Dangle® celebrates its first birthday

Dangle® celebrates its first birthday

September 2026 marks our first birthday. In just twelve months of trading, Dangle® has established itself as Northern Ireland’s leading work-at-height training and specialist services company.

Since welcoming our first learners in September 2025, we have trained more than 100 students and technicians and achieved approvals across three specialist training schemes. Our technical services team has also delivered projects across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Europe.

We have also secured investor funding, developed relationships with established corporate clients and recorded £380,000 in first-year sales. For a business in its first year of trading, from a standing start, there is a great deal to be proud of!

Our birthday gives us a chance to recognise that progress and the people who made it possible. Behind every course and completed project are managers, instructors, technicians, colleagues and customers who have helped Dangle® get established. This is their achievement too.

Our first year at a glance

• Established a 7,500 sq ft training and technical operations facility at Belfast Harbour.
• Achieved IRATA Operator and Trainer membership, GWO approval and EUSR provider approval.
• Trained more than 100 students and technicians.
• Secured corporate clients including Everun, 3t Global, Ventus Energy and Northern Ireland Screen.
• Completed complex technical projects across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland, on time and within our clients’ budgets.
• Secured investor funding and recorded £380,000 in first-year sales.
• These milestones tell the story of a busy first year. We have brought a training facility into use, built the team and systems behind it, and earned business from customers with real operational demands. Each step has given us experience to carry into our second year.

Building Dangle Academy in Belfast

Our home at Belfast Harbour brings training and technical operations together in one place. The facility includes rope access training areas, classrooms and occupational health facilities, giving us the space to support different courses and customer needs.

The idea behind the academy came from experience in the industries we serve. Founder and Managing Director Simon Dunn brought his 15 year offshore and industrial background to a business that would help people develop specialist skills and provide technical services to employers.

That connection remains central to Dangle®. We understand why employers need competent people and what is involved in delivering work in demanding environments. Bringing training and services together keeps those practical considerations close to the business.

Before the first course could run, there was a substantial amount to put in place. Training rigs, equipment and teaching materials all needed attention. So did the less visible work: bookings, learner records, course administration and quality controls.

Getting the academy ready was an achievement in itself. Seeing people use the facility, develop their skills and go to work with their training completed has made that effort worthwhile. Belfast is now a working base from which we can continue to improve and grow.

More than 100 learners in our first year

Training more than 100 students and technicians is one of the milestones that means most to us. Some people came to develop existing skills; others were looking at a different direction for their working lives. Employers also chose Dangle Academy to train members of their teams.

Every learner brings a different level of experience. An established technician may be familiar with the industry but returning for refresher training. Someone attending an introductory course may have far more questions about what to expect. Both deserve clear information and the opportunity to learn in a supportive environment.

Our responsibility starts before a learner arrives. Course information, entry requirements, joining instructions and booking arrangements need to be understandable. During training, people should feel comfortable asking questions and know what is expected of them.

We have also supported access to learning through discounted or sponsored places for unemployed or low-income learners. Alongside our corporate work, this reflects the role we want the academy to play in the local Belfast community. Making specialist training more accessible has been part of our first year, and remains something we value.

Working with corporate clients

Our first-year customers include Everun, 3t Global, Ventus Energy and Northern Ireland Screen to name a few. Earning work from these organisations has been an important step in establishing the academy.

Supporting several Northern Ireland Screen cohorts connected to film and television, was a welcome example of how the skills taught at Dangle Academy can be relevant beyond the industrial sectors people may first associate with us.

For an employer, choosing a training provider means trusting another organisation with the development of its people. We take that responsibility very seriously. We want the course delivery and the communication around it to give customers good reasons to work with us again.

Industry approvals achieved during our first year

IRATA, GWO and EUSR approvals are among our most significant first-year achievements. They have allowed us to establish training across rope access, wind energy and telecommunications, with each programme delivered within its relevant scope.

Achieving these approvals took preparation from across the team. Facilities, equipment and delivery arrangements had to be ready for the relevant assessment processes. The result is a broader choice of specialist training available from our Belfast academy.

IRATA rope access training and services

Achieving IRATA Operator and Trainer membership was a major milestone for both divisions of Dangle®. It supports our IRATA rope access training in Belfast and our operational rope access work.

Our training offer includes Levels 1, 2 and 3, alongside refresher and taster options. Establishing these routes has given people a local place to begin exploring rope access or develop their existing qualifications, subject to the relevant entry requirements.

Having an academy alongside an active technical services business also keeps us connected to work on site. Training and operations have distinct responsibilities, but both depend on competent people and careful preparation.

GWO training for the wind industry

GWO approval has been another important step in the academy’s development. Our approved GWO training courses cover modules in basic safety and refresher training, advanced rescue and enhanced first aid.

Building this capability required investment in the training environment and the people delivering the courses. It also developed our ability to support wind-industry customers from Belfast.

For employers planning technician training, having relevant courses available locally gives them another option. For Dangle®, it connects the academy more closely with the renewables experience already within the business.

EUSR and MATS training for telecommunications

EUSR provider approval expanded our offer further. We introduced EUSR and MATS telecoms training, including radio frequency awareness, rooftop working and tower climbing and rescue.

This development has allowed us to support people working around telecommunications infrastructure. It builds on our experience of access and rescue while recognising the particular requirements of telecoms work.

Establishing training across these three areas within our first year has been a substantial undertaking. We are proud of the team’s work in bringing each part of the offer into place.

A wider range of training and support

Alongside those approvals, we developed Dangle Industrial Painter Training and broadened our offer across workplace safety training, first aid and occupational health services in Belfast.

Our industrial painter pathway draws on the business’s coatings experience. Workplace safety and first aid make the academy relevant to a wider range of organisations, while occupational health provides another service at our Belfast facility.

Customers can explore the full range through our Belfast training academy. Each addition has helped us make better use of the facility and respond to different customer needs.

Technical projects delivered across the UK and Ireland

The academy has been only one part of our first year success. Alongside it, our technical services team has completed complex projects across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Europe. Those projects were delivered on time and within our clients’ budgets.

Our work covers specialist access, inspection, maintenance and industrial coatings. Delivering it requires careful planning around the site, the equipment needed and the customer’s operations. It also means having the right people available and communicating clearly as work progresses.

For a young business, completing projects away from its home base is a meaningful achievement. The team has had to organise resources and deliver in different working environments while meeting the commitments made to clients.

This work has helped establish Dangle® as a services provider as well as a training academy. Customers can come to us to develop their workforce or to discuss specialist work they need delivered. Both sides of the business have contributed to our first-year progress.

Investment and the business behind the delivery

First-year sales of £380,000 reflect the training and services work customers have placed with us. Securing significant investor funding has been another important milestone, supporting the next stage of Dangle®’s development.

We have also worked on how the business is managed. During our first year, we developed an integrated management system covering quality, environmental management and occupational health and safety. ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certification is accredited against UKAS.

Our system brings together areas such as document control, competence, risk management and continual improvement. It supports the everyday work of running courses and delivering services, and gives us a more consistent basis for managing growth, supporting further clients and scaling internationally.

Dangle® is also an accredited UK Living Wage Employer and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant. These commitments reflect the business we want to build and the importance we place on our people and community.

A first birthday message from our Managing Director

“I am proud of what Dangle® has achieved in its first year. We have established a specialist academy, secured recognised industry approvals and earned the confidence of customers who depend on the quality of our training and technical work. That is a substantial amount to accomplish in twelve months.

“The commercial progress and investor funding we have secured give us a stronger basis for the next stage. Our responsibility now is to build on that carefully, investing in our people and the capacity needed to serve our customers well. We want Dangle® to be a business people can truly rely on as we grow.

“What matters most to me is the team behind these achievements. Their effort, and the trust placed in us by learners and clients, have made this first year possible. We are proud to be building Dangle® in Belfast and grateful to everyone who has helped us reach our first birthday.”

Simon Dunn, Managing Director, Dangle®

Looking ahead to our second year

We enter our second year targeting more than £700,000 in sales. That is a goal for the year ahead, with work to do to achieve it. Our focus is on developing customer relationships, increasing the use of our training capacity through further course offerings and pursuing services work that fits our capabilities.

We also want to keep improving the experience of working with Dangle®. As the business grows, the quality of our courses, project delivery and communication needs to remain central to how we operate, and the 100% customer satisfaction we have received to date.

Further ahead, we are exploring Dangle® franchise opportunities as one possible route to bringing the Dangle® model to other locations, around the world. That is a future avenue for growth, developed from the experience of our Belfast operation. Our immediate priority is to build on what we have achieved here.

Thank you for being part of our first year

To everyone who trained with us, booked a course for their team, trusted us with a project or recommended Dangle® to someone else: thank you!

Thank you also to our instructors, technicians and colleagues behind the scenes. Getting a new business established takes sustained effort, much of it away from public view. This anniversary is a chance to recognise that work.

We have plenty to celebrate at our first birthday and plenty still to do. We look forward to welcoming more learners, working with our customers and seeing what our second year brings.