Cockermouth MRT member Mike Park with Andy Buchan, the newly appointed chief executive elect. Photo: Nick Lumb/Cockermouth MRT

The umbrella body for mountain rescuers south of the border has elected its first chief executive from outside the teams that make up its membership.

Businessman and manager Andy Buchan will take over from Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s outgoing leader Mike Park in May next year.

Mr Buchan is based in the East Midlands and has been a keen walker and climber since childhood. He has a background in successful business leadership and strategy development. MREW said he is in a position to give his time and experience to mountain rescue on a voluntary basis – like the 3,500 or more volunteers who make up the service in England and Wales.

Chair of trustees Matt Dooley said: “Our current CEO Mike Park has about nine months of his five-year tenure to go.

“We invited external applicants in late April and Andy Buchan, an experienced manager and businessman with a love of the outdoors, has now been confirmed as the CEO-elect by a vote involving the 47 teams. We always intended to recruit Mike’s replacement in 2025 so that there could be a period of working together and hand over before Mike steps down at the AGM in May 2026.”

Mr Buchan said: “I am very aware of my lack of a mountain rescue background, but hope that I can partly make up for that by visiting as many teams as possible in the coming months while I’m shadowing Mike Park, listening to them and learning as much as possible.

“And I hope there are definite benefits in having fresh eyes and a new outlook in a role like this too.”

“We are massively blessed in this country to have groups of people who want to go out and help others when they get into difficulty in the mountains. It’s a free safety net, staffed by some very highly trained souls who provide this service without being paid.

“I’m daunted but also very excited to work with people with that sort of commitment to make sure that the whole organisation functions properly, now and in the future.”

“The CEO’s role is a demanding one and a varied one,” said Mr Park, the current chief executive, “and I think anyone, myself included, is bound to find some aspects challenging even if other parts of the role come naturally.

“I’m looking forward to working with Andy, developing ideas and approaches together and, I hope, showing everyone involved in [mountain rescue], in the organisation and with our partners, what’s possible for the years ahead.”