The team at Active Hands are a friendly bunch and are happy to answer your enquiries. We love to hear what you have achieved with our products – it makes our jobs worthwhile to know that we are making a difference to you. We would like to introduce our team to you:
Directors
The directors see to the smooth running of Active Hands as a company and look after our brilliant team.
Rob Smith – CEO
Rob is an internationally competitive wheelchair racer in the T52 category. He is married to Jo and has a son, Jacob, and a daughter, Xanthe. He likes all his document titles to contain the word ‘stuff’ and would rather be designing than doing paper work.
Rob designed Active Hands gripping aids after his spinal injury and uses them regularly himself, so he is the man to contact if you have questions relating to using our gripping aids or need help to know which one you should choose. Email Rob info@activehands.com
Melanie Smith – MD
Melanie is Rob’s sister and Mum to two noisy but awesome boys. She runs the company with Rob, heading up the HR and many of the boring administrative bits. When she is not busy at work she likes to go to the gym, listen to live music, make things and eat nice food.
If you need advice on any of the products we sell, have a product you think we might like to sell or are interested in becoming one of our Resellers, contact Melanie on sales@activehands.com
Sales and Distribution
Karen, Millie and Cathy are our distribution team and are a whizz with invoices, parcel tape, bags and boxes! Please contact the dispatch team if you need help placing an order, have a query about an existing order, need a quote or are interested in becoming a reseller of our products (or have any other random queries!). You can email the dispatch team on dispatch@activehands.com
Karen Kennedy – Office Manager
Karen is our Office Manager and heads up the day-to-day running of the Active Hands office.
When not at work she loves spending time with family & friends (especially her cute doggo, Mollie!), going to live music/comedy gigs & eating nice food! She also enjoys baking, photography and getting lost in a good book.
Millie Wyles – Dispatch & Marketing Assistant
Our newest recruit, Millie, works part time in our dispatch team three days a week and has been stolen by our marketing team for the other two!
When not at work Millie likes going to dance classes and visiting the theatre as well as drinking cocktails and bottomless brunching! She also loves looking after her two little nieces- Ruby and Mia.
Cathy Walters – Dispatch Assistant
Cathy was Active Hands’ first dispatch assistant in 2012 and is delighted to be back as part of the team.
Married to Dave and Mum of four young adults and a schnauzer, Cathy enjoys the variability of who will be at home from one week to the next! She loves walking and the sea, appreciates wildlife, maps and good beer, and plays the ukulele!
Media and Marketing
The marketing team loves to hear your stories and see your photos and video footage. If you have something that you would like to share with us then please contact us. If you have a social media stream showing you using our products we would love to share that with our followers too. You can contact the marketing team on marketing@activehands.com.
Clare Reynolds – Marketing and Technical Manager
Clare is wife to Tim and Mum to three teenagers. When she is not working she enjoys baking, hiking and paddle boarding.
Clare heads up the marketing side of the business, along with Jo S, Jo W and Gareth. She also maintains the website and works with Rob on the development of new products.
Jo Walters – Business Development Officer
Jo completed her degree in History and Theology in 2019. She heads up the company social media accounts, manages the Nimble sales, reports on marketing initiatives and works on driving the business forward. She’s a busy woman!
When she’s not at work Jo enjoys baking, going to the gym, and playing with her puppy!
Jo Smith – Marketing Assistant
Jo has been with the company since 2017. She writes our customer and professionals emails and is the face behind our TikTok account as well as writing some of our articles.
When she’s not at work, she loves experimenting with new recipes, heading off to the gym or jumping in puddles with her energetic kids! Jo is married to Rob and mum to Jacob and Xanthe.
Gareth Herridge – Marketing Assistant
Gareth has been playing wheelchair rugby ever since his injury in 2005 and played alongside Rob for several years as part of The Bulls.
An English graduate, Gareth helps write some of the news stories and customer emails, as well as the Diary Of A Gimpy Kid blog. In his free time, this self-confessed film geek can often be found checking out the latest releases at the cinema!
Production
Our Production Manager Sarah heads up outworker production and the making of bespoke gripping aids. She also supports Rob and Clare in their design work, prototyping new products and helping get them ready for sale! If we don’t quite have the gripping aid for you, contact the Production Team about a bespoke aid on production@activehands.com
Sarah Pinnell – Production Manager
After 9 years working as an Active Hands outworker, Sarah has now taken on the role of Production Manager.
Sarah is a professional seamstress and artist, and loves drama too – she’s a very creative lady! If she’s ever not working Sarah loves to drum, go to the gym & take trips to the beach!
Lucy- Production Assistant
Lucy has been sewing for as long as she can remember and is excited to join the Active Hands Team!
As well as sewing Lucy enjoys knitting, travelling and spending time with her husband and 9 year old son keeping active doing gymnastics, swimming and Kung Fu!