Alchemists
The Alchemists Circle
Your Personal Board
A confidential Circle of Business Owners, CEOs and MDs who meet as equals around the decisions, challenges and opportunities that matter.
People who understand the responsibility because they carry it themselves.
A private conversation about you, the Circle and mutual fit. Alan replies personally.
The power of your Personal Board
Working together as equals.
The Alchemists Circle brings Business Owners, CEOs and MDs together as equals around the decisions, challenges and opportunities that matter.
It gives you an ongoing Personal Board: trusted people who understand the responsibility because they carry it themselves.
This is not a corporate board or another panel of advisers. It is a confidential room where you can speak honestly, test your thinking and remain responsible for the decision you make.
- You value honest challenge and confidentiality.
- You want respected equals rather than imposed answers.
- You are prepared to share your experience and listen to others.
- You make your own decisions and take responsibility for them.
- You value time away from the day-to-day.
- You want people who will support you and hold you accountable.
Your Personal Board
People you trust. A room you return to.
The Alchemists Circle gives you a confidential room of trusted equals who understand the responsibility you carry.
They help you see the situation more clearly, test your thinking, form decisions you trust and remain accountable for what happens next.
It is your Personal Board: independent enough to challenge you, experienced enough to understand and trusted enough for you to say what you cannot say elsewhere.
Make decisions you trust
Act on what becomes clear
Our promise
You'll never face the challenges alone.
There is a solitude to being an owner or leader at the top of a business. Some decisions cannot be worked through openly with your team, board, family or advisers.
The Circle gives you a regular, confidential room where you can bring what matters, hear different perspectives and speak without performing.
You remain responsible for your decisions. You no longer have to carry every decision alone.
How your Personal Board works
An ongoing room of trusted equals.
The Circle is an ongoing membership for Business Owners, CEOs and MDs. Members return to the room regularly to work through the decisions, challenges and opportunities that matter.
01
Meet Alan privately
Begin with a coffee and a confidential conversation about you, your business and what has brought you to the Circle.
02
Establish mutual fit
The value of the Circle depends on trust, equality and the right mix of people. Alan will explain the current commitment and explore whether there is an appropriate place.
03
Join your Personal Board
You join a confidential Circle of Business Owners, CEOs and MDs who meet as equals. Alan chairs the room and protects the conditions for honest challenge.
04
Return to the room
Members return each month with the decisions, challenges and opportunities that matter. The room provides perspective, challenge, support and accountability.
What protects the room
The conditions that make your Personal Board work.
Active Time Out
Protected time away from the day-to-day to work on yourself, your decisions and your business.
High Performance
A commitment to learning, adapting and drawing more fully on your own experience, judgement and resources.
Safe Space
Confidentiality, trust and respect create room for honest thinking without judgement or imposed answers.
Collaboration
Experienced leaders from different sectors sharing perspective, asking questions and helping each other see what may otherwise remain hidden.
What our members say
What it feels like inside the room.
Some members' relationships with Alan have also extended into separate Alchemists 1:1 and Alchemists INside engagements. These are not automatically included in Circle membership.
I felt I'd be 'the poor relation'. I learnt very quickly that I was equal in the room. The welcoming atmosphere was amazing and it allowed me to rebuild lost confidence I'd kept hidden from the outside world.
Louise McCabe
MD & Owner, Angel Accounting
Before joining the group, I would delay decision-making and become obsessive about the detail. I felt things had to be fully perfect before moving forward. The group helped me become more confident and instinctive in my decisions. It really was like having ‘the board you could never afford’ right at your fingertips—people with whom I could discuss issues confidentially. After one year, I merged my business and increased the headcount significantly. I became more ambitious, and the confidence I gained continued to fuel my drive to grow the business. Alan listens carefully before challenging you. His insight and support have stood the test of time.
Patrick McAliskey
Novosco
Relationship included: The Alchemists Circle · Alchemists 1:1 · The Alchemists INside
Stepping away from my business for one day each month initially felt difficult to justify. I came to realise that it was both doable and very worthwhile. It gave me the space to lift my head out of the detail and see the bigger picture. Being part of the Alchemists Circle meant having a highly supportive group around me, offering advice, insight and moral support through personal and business dilemmas. When one member faced a serious difficulty, the rest of the group literally dropped everything and weighed in to help. Alan challenged my thinking through robust testing and one-to-one coaching, while guiding the group so we got the best from one another’s experience. The Circle helped me make clearer and slightly braver decisions about my business.
Dorcas Crawford
Senior Partner, Edwards & Co; Mediator and Founder, The Better Way
Relationship included: The Alchemists Circle · Alchemists 1:1 · The Alchemists INside
As CEO of a business whose team had doubled in 18 months, I needed to make sure our vision did not remain in my head. New teams and new leaders were emerging quickly, and I needed to bring them into shaping where we were going. Being part of the Alchemists Circle gave me a regular space for high-honesty, high-respect conversations. Alan knew our business, listened carefully, and I trusted him to steer the conversation well. It helped me identify possible points of resistance, think about how to win hearts and minds, and work through the questions that mattered as we scaled. The Circle helped me keep people involved, motivated and aligned as the business grew.
Stuart Harvey
CEO, Datactics
Relationship included: The Alchemists Circle · Alchemists 1:1 · The Alchemists INside
The Alchemists has helped me introduce new working practices into my week that I doubt I could have otherwise. Knowing that future problems yet to be seen can be shared easily within the group is a nice form of insurance policy.
Paul Black
CEO & Owner, ALPHA Group
At a crossroads, making a tough decision, it is invaluable to have that wealth of knowledge and experience to call upon — making the way forward clear to see.
Dominic Walsh
Chief Executive, Hospital Services Limited
Relationship included: The Alchemists Circle · Alchemists 1:1 · The Alchemists INside
Your Chair
Alan protects the equality, confidentiality and usefulness of the room.
Alan chairs the conversation so that no one voice dominates and every member can contribute as an equal.
He listens carefully, asks the questions others may miss and connects patterns across the room. He protects confidentiality, encourages honest challenge and leaves ownership of every decision with the person who must act on it.
He brings over 40 years of international commercial experience, chairing confidential groups for owners, CEOs and MDs of privately held small and medium-sized companies, and has worked across corporate strategy, sales, mergers and acquisitions, leadership development and culture with organisations including Avis Europe, GSK, Accenture, BT, Bank of Ireland, Reuters, Panasonic Avionics, PWC, the LEGO Group and Invest NI.
Alan has chaired the Academy for Chief Executives NI, ROI & Scotland, holds an MSc in Coaching and Organisational Development, and is a member of the Institute of Directors.
"Explore Beyond Boundaries, Reveal Hidden Possibilities, Connect Hearts and Minds, Fulfil Life's Purpose."
Alan Branagh, Chair & Founder of The Alchemists Circle
Begin.
Meet Alan for a coffee.
The first step is a private conversation with Alan.
Tell him what has brought you to the Circle and what you are looking for from a Personal Board. Alan will explain how the Circle currently works and explore mutual fit with you.
There is no sales sequence. Your message goes directly to Alan and remains confidential.
London : Sheffield : Belfast
In confidence
Contact Alan @ Alchemists Circle .
A short, private note is all it takes. Tell us who you are and why you're reaching out, and Alan will reply personally to arrange a coffee and a conversation.
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