We have no experience working in an underground mine, like 99% of the other staff who are/work for consultants. Do some further digging and you'll see others who have partially relevant degrees. It is all about experience and whilst we may not have been around since 1982 like the others, we have done a fair amount of site investigation work, in all of it's forms.
I've personally spent the last 10 years exhaustively studying the subject matter, I spent over £5000 on books. About 95% of them are not on any of the "what everyone calls relevant" reading lists (those arguing from authority). I'm sure if anyone was to devise a relevant subject matter test (as there currently isn't one), we would do very well indeed.
The bottom line is who your customers are, what they think of the quality and value of your work, how thorough, up to date, well researched it is and what your peers think of the quality of your work. After all, this is the test of your worth.
I've had some feedback from some peers (who work from other companies) about the quality of what we do and I'm flattered by what they've said. The only way anyone is going to make any inroads into the packed habitat is to be very very good, technologically up to date and very thorough.
Now, if you'd like copies of our work, you can email me, like any prospective clients can, or you I put you onto some good references, or you can ask someone who's had our work pass through their hands, at work.
We don't write reports to merely tick box, we write them to impress our peers. That's the standard you've got to go for.
I do resent being put in a position where I've got to justify our integrity on the internet.
I'm sure you haven't got a clue about what I've been up to for the last 10 years, or what anyone else has.
Taking people's word for things in the SW (Other than peers or clients) is asking for a load of bitterness, criticality and nonsense.
That is all I have to say on the matter. Meanwhile, if we are to discuss what has happened at St Day, what the evidence is and what needs to be done, feel free to add to the discussion. The subject matter which forms the backbone of the understanding of the situation has been evolving to it's current form for the last year. If you'd like to discuss this, rather than attempt an ad-hominem attack, go for it.
and whilst we're here, I've so far been in over 250 mines in the SW, with my eyes open, things have come on a long way since the Plymouth Caving Group. We've got 3d paperless survey capability and run the whole lot through GIS. Like the other firm who are towards the top of the game, we're also now paperless in the field. It's pretty good going for a couple of idiots. The other one having gained an MSc in the meantime, with distinction.
On that note, I shall put my willy away and we can get back to the business of discussing informal and non work related stuff.