Alamy’s Director of Business Transformation Alan Capel has decided to leave the business after 23 years of dedicated service.
One of just a handful of employees when he joined the fledgling content platform in 2000, Alan has played a major part in its evolution from disruptive start-up to influential global player.
He has fulfilled multiple senior roles across the business at various times including Head of Commercial and Head of Content, becoming Director of Business Transformation after Alamy’s acquisition by PA Media Group three years ago.
Alamy Managing Director Emily Shelley said: “Alan has been a guiding force behind Alamy’s success for the last two decades and one of its most popular faces both inside the business and externally within the industry.
“We’re very sad to be losing him but we understand and respect his decision to step back and pursue other projects. Fortunately, Alan has always generously shared his encyclopaedic knowledge of the industry and the business with colleagues, so he leaves us in good shape.”
For the time being Alan’s responsibilities will be picked up by senior executives, James Allsworth – Head of Content, Gemma Dewhurst – Head of News, Sport and Entertainment and Rachel Wakefield – Head of Core Markets, among others.
Alan, who leaves the business at the end of June, said: “I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved at Alamy. We set out to do things differently and we’ve stayed true to those principles. It’s been a fantastic journey and I’ve learnt and laughed a lot along the way. I’ve made lifelong friends inside and outside the business – and I met my wife at Alamy too, so that was a bonus!
“But 23 years is a long time and I’ve made the very difficult decision to move on. I have some ideas and projects I’m looking forward to tackling. I leave the business in very capable and safe hands. Emily and her team have clear and exciting ambitions and I know they can succeed.”
Alan has worked in the photographic industry for more than 30 years having started as a picture researcher at a small agency. When he was originally recruited as Project Manager he became Alamy staff member number five and the then stock library’s photographic portfolio numbered just a few hundred images. Almost a quarter of a century on there are 180+ employees across the globe and around 350 million images and videos on the platform, with more than 150,000 assets added every day by hundreds of thousands of creators in 173 countries. Today Alamy has content from from every country in the world.
A proud Alamy advocate, he describes its approach as ‘adventurous, nimble, entrepreneurial’ and committed to leveraging technological developments while ‘never forgetting the people who create the content.’
The 57-year-old father of four children, aged five to 26, intends to pursue some part time consultancy projects and spend more time at his home in Oxfordshire where, amongst other things, he plans to install luxury shepherd’s huts for holiday rentals.
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About Alamy: Alamy is the world’s most inclusive content collection of creative and editorial photos, vectors, 360-degree images and videos from individual photographers, picture agencies and archives. Its global contributor base supplies upwards of 150,000 new images a day to the online platform.
Founded in 1999, Alamy was built on a vision to change the world of picture buying. The collection offers creative and editorial content sourced from a network of over 100,000 photographers, content creators and 650 contributing agencies and archives. With three global sales hubs; Alamy serves a global customer base covering the news, publishing, advertising, design, corporate and broadcast sectors.
Alamy’s headquarters are in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It has offices in the United States and India, as well as a team based in Australia. In February 2020, Alamy was acquired by PA Media Group, the UK-based news and information business.