Alchemy Labs existsto buildbetter organisations.
I work with CEOs, founders and leadership teams to design the human systems behind exceptional organisations: how people lead, make decisions and work together.
Point of view
Technology changes the work. It doesn’t fix the organisation.
AI is changing what people can do, how quickly they can do it and what work costs.
But the things that get in the way of performance are often stubbornly human. Unclear priorities. Slow decisions. Leaders pulling in different directions. Too much process. Not enough trust, challenge or ownership.
As technology gets better, these things matter more, not less.
The organisations that thrive will be the ones that create the conditions for talented people to do exceptional work together.
The problem
Sometimes the organisation becomes the thing getting in the way.
What worked at one stage doesn't always work at the next. The business grows. The context changes. New layers, processes and habits accumulate.
Eventually, the organisation you built to enable the work can start making the work harder.
That's not an HR problem. It's an organisation problem.
The work
Work on the organisation,not around it.
I work alongside CEOs, founders and leadership teams on the things that determine how well an organisation actually works.
Sometimes that means redesigning how the organisation operates. Sometimes it's getting a leadership team properly aligned. Sometimes it's helping a leader navigate a significant transition. Often, those things are connected.
The work can include leadership, culture, organisational design, ways of working, team effectiveness and executive coaching, but it always starts with the business you're trying to build, not a pre-packaged programme.
Explore how I workAlastair
Inside experience. Outside perspective.
I’m Alastair Gill, founder of Alchemy Labs.
I’ve spent more than 15 years working on leadership, culture and organisations. I helped build giffgaff from the inside, then founded Alchemy Labs to work alongside CEOs, founders and leadership teams from the outside, including a two-year programme with Beavertown during a defining period of growth and change.
That combination shapes how I work. I understand the reality of building an organisation, not just advising one.
I look at the organisation as a whole. How leadership, culture, structure, decisions and ways of working combine to help talented people do exceptional work, or get in their way.
Proof
The work has to work.
giffgaff
Built from the inside.
As People Lead, I helped build giffgaff from an idea into a £500m+ business, shaping the leadership, culture and organisation as we scaled.
Beavertown
Built from the outside.
Two years alongside Beavertown's leadership team, building the leadership and culture through rapid growth, investment and acquisition.
Two very different businesses. Two different positions. One challenge: building the organisation the ambition requires.
Selected experience
Explore the work
Start a conversation
Build the organisation your ambition needs.
If the ambition is clear but the organisation around it isn't working as well as it could, let's talk.
Start a conversation