Rolf Woodward, Founder & Director

Rolf Woodward is one of life’s high achievers. Give him a problem and he’s in his element. And he’ll find a way to solve it.

Excelling at school and in sport, Rolf’s clear intelligence and analytical brain understands technology better than most. Indeed, he was Apple’s very first UK Apple Certified Network IT Consultant, achieving the highest level of Apple certification.

Before founding Command-R, Rolf worked with his brother in IT – both Windows and Apple – for almost 20 years. During that time, always up for new challenges, he also worked on various other fascinating projects.

• Born in Saudi Arabia, Rolf spent the first 10 years of his life there while his father worked as a structural engineer.
• The family spent three memorable months travelling through Egypt, Türkiye, and across Europe by car, eventually returning to the UK.
• Attending Shiplake College, near Henley-on-Thames, Rolf developed a love of rowing. At 16, he was selected for the school’s first eight rowing squad, competing in the Henley Royal Regatta for three years. Normally, pupils are only selected in their last year.
• Rolf also joined the MOD’s Combined Cadet Force (CCF) Navy division, obtaining Coxswain, the highest non-enlisted officer rank in the Navy.
• Cycling was another interest. But loving the more unusual things in life, Rolf’s passion later turned to Penny Farthings. He’s now a member of the Penny Farthing Club, an official instructor and holds 2 Guinness World Records.
• After school, Rolf attended Kings College London to do a Biomedical Science degree, choosing Cardiovascular Science, and Aviation & Space Physiology modules, graduating with a 2.1 degree.

• Rolf was then offered the position of Coach to Global Racing, a World Cup Mountain Bike team. That meant ensuring the riders physically survived racing every week in a different country and continent, travelling around the world twice a year, and the logistics of checking 1.9 tonnes of luggage onto planes each week.
• Next, Rolf became a mountain bike parts distributor in the UK for a Canadian manufacturer. To help test those parts, Rolf spent a few months cycling some of the US’s famous national parks, including Moab and Mammoth Mountains, before venturing to Peru, riding across the Andes and along the Amazon River.
• Rolf’s Pukka Parts, his first Limited company, was set up to import and distribute those bike parts across the UK. So, Rolf decided to get some business management education whilst running the business.

• Attending Manchester Business School, the programme was run in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Paralympic Committee (IPC), steering him towards contract work for various sporting bodies.
• One contract took Rolf to Vancouver Paralympics where he ran an accessibility conference on the future of developing accessible sports arenas for people with disabilities.
• Rolf’s next big break was London 2012 (where he met his future wife, Julie). He was hired by LOCOG to help setup and deliver the operations centre, the command-and-control centre for the whole Olympic Park. Needing detailed logistics planning, problem-solving skills, and strong communications between stakeholders to ensure there were no delays, this was the work Rolf had trained to do and loved.

Now, Rolf is focused on growing and promoting Command-R to businesses, schools and private individuals who understand the importance of protecting themselves from the ever-growing threat of cyber criminality.

So, to balance this high-tech side of his life with something physical, Rolf continues to cycle Penny Farthings, teaching others to do so most weekends in London. Being an integral part of the Penny Farthing Club, Rolf helps organise events such as The Penny Farthing Guinness World Record Extravaganza.

To sum up Rolf’s character, the quote at the end of this article about the Guinness World Record event is quite accurate. The UK’s Penny Farthing Club’s founder, Neil Laughton, was asked if the penny farthing community attracts a certain type of personality. He replied:

“Mostly quite eccentric, curious and daring personalities who love a challenge. Penny Farthings attract people who like to try the unusual, ‘walk’ a different path and are happy to test their limits. But it’s not for the faint-hearted!”

Rolf Woodward fits the description well, as evidenced through his many life experiences. Not least when it comes to IT. There’s nothing he and his Command-R team love more than to be given a challenging technical issue to solve. Because they won’t rest until they solve it for you.

IT Qualifications:

• Apple Certified IT Professional (the first in the UK)
• Certified Wireless Network Administrator
• Google Workspace Administration Specialist
• Addigy Certified Expert
• Dropbox Certified Administrator
• Ubiquiti Enterprise Wireless Admin

• BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science, Kings College
• MBA in Major Event Management from Manchester Business School & World Academy of Sport
• PRINCE2 Practitioner
• British Cycling Level 2 Coach
• CAA Drone Pilot
• Mountain Bike Leader Award – Trail Centre Leader

Key events achieved:

• Cape Epic Mountain Bike race
• Trans Rocky Mountain bike race
• Trans Andes Mountain bike ride
• Mega Avalanche Mountain Bike race
• Trans Wales Mountain Bike race
• London Marathon Sub 4 hours at age 17 (youngest age you can enter)
• London Triathlon (Olympic Distance)
• Henley Royal regatta (competed three times, once beating Oxford University Light Weights)

Give Rolf a new challenge!