Exceptional loyalty to our purpose and mission has resulted in a stable team with unrivalled knowledge and passion.
For our customers, this has enabled long-term personal relationships of great trust and value – one assuring constant in an ever-changing world. For us, it means we can invest heavily in training in new technologies and techniques with confidence that the knowledge gained will remain in-house.
We value and appreciate each member of the Valeport team. On this page, we have listed customer-facing employees who you might communicate with. Of course, the Valeport team is made up of many employees and we all work collaboratively to help our customers, suppliers and the company flourish.
Kevin Edwards
Head of Sales
Kevin joined Valeport in October 1978 as a trainee and worked in the product assembly department until an opening for a Sales Engineer became available in 1986.
He now heads up a great Sales & Logistics team that is responsible for all of Valeport's worldwide sales activities including distributor performance and export control compliance.
Kevin thinks our industry is quite unique and friendly, with many challenges. Having been in the business for over 40 years, not much phases or shocks Kevin in terms of customer needs and technical solutions and those “next day deliveries”.
He appreciates working for an industry respected and independent family company, whilst being able to travel the world from a beautiful part of the UK.
Kevin appreciates a healthy work/life balance and especially enjoys watching Rugby Union.
Darren Padley
Senior Sales Manager
Darren is Senior Sales Manager at Valeport and is skilled in Physical Oceanography, Hydrography, Metrology and ocean chemistry. He joined Valeport in 1996 fulfilling various roles within Production, Service and Support before joining the Sales team.
Darren has a BSc Hons in Oceanography and Environmental Science and Post Graduate Studies in Estuarine Monitoring.
Outside of Valeport Darren’s interests centre around his two dogs and following the local professional rugby and cricket teams.
Neal Adamson
Sales Manager
Neal supports direct sales to our global customer and distributor network for all their Hydrometric, Hydrographic & Oceanographic instrumentation requirements.
He has been with Valeport for 17 years, starting his career as an Electronics Engineering Apprentice before taking the responsibility of Production Assembly Manager to lead a skilled team of 18 professionals. He joined the Sales team in 2018.
Neal holds numerous engineering and management educational accolades and is a member of the Chartered Management Institute.
Away from the office Neal enjoys spending time with his young family and is always keen for a challenge, competing regularly in Obstacle Course Races, Triathlons, Marathons and other endurance sports events. Recently representing the UK in the European and World OCR championships.
Tammy Elliott
Contracts & Sales Manager
Tammy joined Valeport Ltd in September 1994 as an Office Junior and obtained an NVQ3 in Business Administration.
With over 26 years’ experience in Logistics procedures for both export and import, combined with a Foundation Award in International Trade and Leadership Management, Tammy’s experience is invaluable as she manages the entry and progression of all contracts through Valeport, making her an integral member of the Sales team.
Tammy gets a sense of achievement from supporting customers with the requirements and making sure they receive their equipment when required.
Dawn Blackburn
Logistics Administrator
Dawn joined Valeport in June 2017, she works in the Logistics Department raising shipping / export documentation required for both new products and service shipments. Dawn works closely with our freight forwarders making sure all our goods are shipped safely and quickly to our customers.
Iain Woodfield
Logistics & Customs Coordinator
Iain is an administrator in the Logistics Department here at Valeport and has worked in this role since June 2016. His work at Valeport covers a wide range of tasks within the department from ensuring compliance with dangerous goods shipments through to driving the forklift. Iain's personal interests are playing his guitar, riding his bike and hiking with his wife. He is a graduate of the Open University and holds a First Class Honours degree in History.
Peter Adams
Head of Customer Service
In 1987 Peter joined Valeport as a final work placement for his mechanical engineering degree. He started work as a Mechanical Design Engineer and later moved on to writing software for displaying instrument data. Peter has progressed through the company over the last 32 years and currently manages the Service & Calibration, Customer Support and IT functions. He is a valuable member of the senior management team.
Kristian Ball
Service Manager
Kristian joined Valeport in 2013 and then became the Service Manager in 2017. He manages the day to day running of the service department, liaising with customers who need technical support or an update on their instruments when it is in for service. Since Kristian was a child, he has always enjoyed taking things apart and trying to understand how they work - so for him the main enjoyment is taking something that is broken and making it work again.
Andrew Thrussell
Service Engineer
Andrew joined Valeport as a Service Engineer in 2011. His previous experience as a field engineer with a leading global consumer digital imaging corporation led him to progress to Customer Support Engineer, providing solutions for our customer's technical enquiries over a broad range of products. He is also responsible for in-house customer product training.
In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with family and friends as well as dog walking, photography and travelling.
Emma Lakin
Service Administrator
Emma works in the Service Department as our Service Administrator. She works closely with the Service Engineers to ensure our customers have an in-depth quotation for their instruments and that all instruments are serviced and calibrated to a high standard.
During her spare time Emma enjoys spending time assisting her husband and daughter in their passion for water sports.
Alice handles the day to day finance administration for Valeport Limited and Valeport Water. She joined Valeport in 2013 as a business administration apprentice, then moved on to studying accounting gaining her AAT level 4 professional diploma. Alice has also gained her CIMA level 3 Diploma in principles of management.
In her spare time, Alice enjoys competing with her horses, helping around the farm and walking her dogs.
Jim Gardiner
Research Scientist
Jim is a Research Scientist at Valeport Ltd. He holds an MSc Applied Marine Science and a BSc (Hons) in Ocean Science – both from Plymouth University – and he is a Chartered Marine Scientist (IMarEST). Jim started his career as an Oceanographic Analyst at UKHO before joining Valeport as Product Manager in 2008. In 2017, he then moved into a more R&D focused role as a Research Scientist, developing, testing and trialling new sensing technologies.
Guy Frankland
Head of Marketing
Guy oversees marketing for Valeport and Valeport Water. He has been with the company for 3 years. Prior to joining Valeport Guy had amassed over 20 years’ experience in strategic digital marketing and has a Diploma in Digital Marketing from the Institute of Data & Marketing. He loves a challenge and finding solutions to problems. A lover of all things digital, Guy is obsessed with providing Valeport customers with the best experience possible.
Outside of work Guy enjoys spending time with his young family and when time allows DIY & gardening.
Dan Bruce
Visual Media Producer
Dan started working for Valeport in 2011. After managing the stores department he transferred to the Marketing team as Visual Media Producer in 2020.
Dan has a passion for creating engaging video and photographic content to help promote the high-quality products the company manufactures.
Outside of work, Dan enjoys spending time with his friends and family as well as travelling, photography and creating short films.
Siobhan Edwards
Marketing Coordinator
Siobhan joined Valeport as an Office Junior in 2006 where she helped all the departments with any administration required, she then moved solely to the Service Department. After being with the Service Department for just over 11 years, Siobhan moved to the Marketing Department where she is involved in all aspects of marketing for Valeport.
Siobhan has an NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service and an NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Business Improvement Techniques.
In her spare time, she enjoys coaching the local Hockey team and watching the Exeter Chiefs play up at Sandy Park.
Matt Quartley
Managing Director
Matt is proud to be leading an ever-growing team of enthusiastic, skilled & knowledgeable individuals as we look to develop and produce world-leading environmental monitoring instruments.
His over-riding philosophy is "let's make everyone's life easier":
- our customers by making better products with shorter lead times and quicker service
- our suppliers by treating them with the same respect we give our customers
- our employees by giving them all the tools & facilities they need to do their jobs well. Matt is fortunate enough to enjoy coming into work, and he doesn't see why everybody else shouldn't be given the opportunity to feel the same way!
Phill Harvey
Finance Director
Phill left banking after 31 years to join the family business as FD. Working with the MD, who also happens to be his brother-in-law, they have implemented a period of rapid change to build on the already strong foundations at Valeport. Phill particularly enjoys the people side of the business which with nearly 100 colleagues from every walk of life is never dull! On the rare days when Phill feels at all demotivated, he just looks out of his office window and reminds himself of how lucky he is.
Samantha Headland
HR Administrator
Sam joined the company in 2005 initially in the Production Department. Since then she has worked with the Chief of Operations in a Supervisory role organising Production and HR Administration. This role has now developed into a full-time HR position and Sam is enjoying all aspects that the job has to offer, especially working closely with her colleagues.
Outside of work Sam enjoys cooking and spending time with family and friends.
Jeremy Law
Chief of Operations
Jeremy joined Valeport in July 1996 as a Mechanical Design Engineer, after two years with the company he then progressed on to become Production Manager. Now, as Chief of Operations, he has become responsible for all Production elements of the business as well Purchasing, Compliance, Health and Safety, and Facilities.
He likes to be kept busy and enjoys the variety of work which the job entails. When not at work relaxation is achieved through the peace and solitude of moors walking and swimming.
Amelia Wakeham
Compliance Officer
Amelia joined the company in October 2017 in the Operations Department providing administrative support to the Production Team and the Chief of Operations.
She has recently taken on responsibility for the company’s compliance, including ISO Standards, Fit 4 Nuclear and ATEX. Amelia believes that compliance is vital to the business and is keen to maintain Valeport’s internal and external standards at the highest level possible.
Amelia is also still involved with ensuring that the Operations and Facilities side of the company run as smoothly as possible.
Outside of work, Amelia captain's the Ladies 1st team of the local hockey club and she is involved in the local cricket club, she also enjoys spending time with her family.
Emma Finch
Purchasing Supervisor
Emma joined Valeport in 2006 initially in a Stores role. She then moved to the Purchasing team. Emma enjoys maintaining good relationships with our suppliers and ensuring all our departments get the goods they require to build our precision instruments.
Sharon Pinnell
Purchasing Assistant
Sharon has been with Valeport since 2004 and has always worked within the Purchasing Department, gaining lots of experience in that time. She ensures that the best prices, quality and delivery times possible are obtained to fulfil customers orders. Sharon is keen to keep the purchasing process as paperless as she can.
In her spare time, Sharon enjoys spending time in her garden and also volunteers as an enabler for children with disabilities in Torbay, providing respite for families.
Jay Nicholson
Head of R&D
Jay joined Valeport in 1992 after having spent 9 months previously as part of his sandwich degree course in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Having spent much of his early career working on many of the company’s highly successful products. Most recently, he was a major contributor to the company’s highly successful SWiFT product range. Jay now heads a team of 14 highly skilled Engineers. He is also very much involved in the firmware development of a number new products.
Outside of work, Jay enjoys competing in Triathlons locally in Devon and Cornwall as well as anything Engineering based from old Land Rovers to DIY.
Charlie Russell
Machine Shop Manager
Charlie has worked at Valeport for over 16 years and has managed our team of highly skilled machinists for 11 of those years. With over 40 years experience in engineering, and still learning, he enjoys his work at Valeport and has the confidence in his team to know that our machined parts are of the highest quality.
Outside of work he enjoys spending time with his family, and anything to do with motorsport.
Reece Mottershead
Production Manager
Reece joined the company in 2013 as an apprentice in which he assembled and tested Valeport’s precision instrumentation. Reece took on the responsibility for the Product Assembly department in 2019 and has since completed a Level 5 Apprenticeship in Operational Management and Leadership, as well as the various Electronics based courses at the beginning of his career. He has full trust in his team of highly skilled Assembly Technician’s and has a passion for ensuring all Valeport products are built to the highest of standards.
In his spare time, Reece loves to keep up to date with the sporting world, in particular, professional tennis.
Jason Horsell
Production Engineering Manager
Jason is our Production Engineering Manager and is responsible for transitioning products from prototype through to production. His day-to-day responsibility is providing technical expertise and diagnosing and solving problems on the Production line. He started his career at Valeport as an Electronics Apprentice and then progressed to an Electronics Engineer before becoming the Production Engineering Manager. With over 17 years of experience at Valeport, Jason has developed a keen eye for detail and takes pride in ensuring the quality of Valeport products.
In his spare time, Jason enjoys spending time with his young family and socialising with friends.