About us

Pete is an engineer at heart and likes to build things.  Mostly over-engineered things.  From an early age, he built his own bike, restored a boat, dabbled with homemade fireworks, and nearly set fire to the school with a remotely activated smoke bomb.  He disassembled anything electrical, occasionally putting them back together.

Building a computer awoke an interest in IT and, after studying electronic engineering, he built a career in telemetry, knowledge management and digital transformation.

The geeky stuff was balanced by an interest in the natural world, organic growing, and the realisation that we need to change the way we manage our food and energy systems if we’re to survive as a species.

In 2015 he was introduced to permaculture which struck a chord with this interest in eco-friendly sustainable living.  He then inherited some chickens and the seeds of Natural Progress were sown.  In 2021 he studied with Geoff Lawton and qualified as a permaculture designer.

A dislike of industrial farming practices led to Pete following a vegetarian diet for 30 years.  The need to cull a few roosters challenged that position.  Stubborn adherence to principles means he now only eats animals he’s on first name terms with.

Combining modern technology with old-school, hands-on, roll-up-the-sleeves-and-get-goingness, Pete brings his life skills to an array of projects, driven by imagination and invention.