Who we are

RAT Work is a UK rope access company. We do the work ourselves: rope access, safety netting, rescue standby and emergency make-safe. We run monthly technique days for IRATA technicians, and we built the RAT Work app, a job board and one-stop shop for rope access technicians and employers.

We’re technicians first. We don’t manage from a desk: we rig, supervise and work in suspension ourselves.

How we started

Two rope access technicians, Phellan Sudworth and James Lee, kept running into the same problems. Clients couldn’t find reliable rope access contractors. Technicians spent too much time chasing work. Jobs got held up because the compliance paperwork was a mess, and good training was hard to find.

So they built RAT Work: a field operation that does the job properly, an app that puts technicians and employers in one place, and technique days that raise the skill level across the industry.

The people behind it

Phellan Sudworth

Co-founder, IRATA Level 3. Leads the app and technology side of the business, and built the RAT Work app around problems he’d met on real jobs.

James (Jay) Lee

Co-founder, IRATA Level 2.

Both still work on the ropes and do whatever the job needs. Across the team, that’s 20 years’ combined experience.

Where we are

We have two bases: one just outside Bath and one just outside Leicester. From there we work across the whole UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What we stand for

Technicians first

Everything we build, from the app to the technique days, is meant to make the job better for the people on the ropes.

Compliance without shortcuts

Every job has a site-specific RAMS, IRATA Level 3 supervision, inspected equipment and a rescue plan. The paperwork is part of the job, not an afterthought.

Honesty over sales

If a job can’t be done safely on rope, or scaffolding is the better option, we’ll tell you.

Accreditations and insurance

  • CHAS Accredited Contractor
  • Constructionline Gold Member
  • £5M public liability, £10M employers’ liability and £5M professional indemnity insurance
  • Every project supervised by an IRATA Level 3 technician
  • 20 years’ combined rope access experience
  • CSCS-carded technicians
  • FASET-trained netting operatives
  • FREC Level 3/4, Rescue 3 and confined space rescue qualified
  • LOLER and PUWER inspected equipment

Rope Access Technician Work Ltd, company number 15148075.