Chris Johnstone and Mick Bowra joined British Gas (Segas) in 1968 and their career paths included operational management, and the training and assessment of gas fitting operatives. In 1994 they left BG and set up Viper, which provided a comprehensive portfolio of services and support materials for the gas industry, that included:

• the design and development of technical publications and learning programmes for training and assessment organisations
• the design and development of assessment models and documentation for certification bodies, in accordance with the Nationally Accredited Certification Scheme for Individual Gas Fitting Operatives
• the development and assessment of assessors and internal/external verifiers in accordance with CIPD requirements
• the approval and verification of assessment centres in accordance with the Nationally Accredited Certification Scheme for Individual Gas Fitting Operatives
• a range of natural gas and LPG technical manuals for domestic and commercial gas installers
• a range of natural gas and LPG self study workbooks for domestic and commercial gas installers

ViperGas.co.uk Limited was launched in 2002 providing technical services to sister company VR Publications Limited and supplied over 150 training centres, National Grid, EUSkills, and other large organisations in addition to direct services to over 70,000 individual operatives.

In the summer of 2008, VR Publications Limited ceased trading of traditional printed and hard copy publications and all operations passed to ViperGas.co.uk Limited whilst welcoming David West to the board as Technical Director.

David began his career with a leading London advertising agency as an Internet Development Manager and has been instrumental in the development of software and internet applications for a number of corporate businesses. Most recently, David lead a team of developers to deliver software solutions for companies such as Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Visa International and Diageo.