Following a secondary education at Methodist College, Belfast, Alan graduated from Queen's University, Belfast with a degree in Economics and Accounting. During his years at Queen's Alan acted in the University Dramatic Society production for the Belfast Arts Festival, edited the University News Magazine and was elected Treasurer of the Students' Union. Alan's powerful debating style resulted in his appearing in almost 30 television programmes during this time. And he hasn’t stopped sinc then.
After university Alan joined RMC Plc. on their graduate management development programme having spent a summer vacation working in their accounts department. He stayed for ten years with RMC being promoted through a variety of management positions in Operations, Sales and Marketing. These jobs were located mainly in Belfast and London but time was also spent in the Paris, Dusseldorf, Milan, Vienna and Dublin offices. Before resigning in 1978 Alan' had been Acting General Manager in Northern Ireland.
After leaving RMC, Alan set up his own readymix concrete business near Belfast. Through time this business expanded into plant sales, builders' merchants, pre-cast concrete, quarrying, specialist sub-contracting and cast stone. In 1994 Enterprise Equity Ltd., an Irish based venture capital fund, acquired 15% of the ordinary shares in a new holding company which was incorporated to acquire Alan''s business interests.
Alan' was elected Chairman of one regional and two UK national trade associations. He was also elected Chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry plus a number of other sporting and charitable bodies.
In the 1990s Alan' recognised there were constraints on further growth of his business. This realisation coupled with an unsolicited offer of employment from The Euroventure Group Ltd., a leading UK business consultancy, led to Alan' leaving the building materials industry in 1995 to head up the Euroventure Export Marketing Programmes Division as Chief Executive.
During Alan's three and a half years with Euroventure there were many significant achievements. Apart from a most acceptable operating profit these also included the award of a £3.3m consulting contract by the UK government's Training & Employment Agency, various negotiated export promotion contracts, the receipt of a National Training Award and the creation of an effective management team in the Glasgow, Leeds, Paris, Singapore and San Francisco offices.
Alan' was elected to the Board of Directors of The Euroventure Group Ltd and served for a period as Managing Director.
In November 1998 The Euroventure Group Ltd merged with Taylor Davidson Ltd, a specialist sales training company to form Edge. Following the merger Edge carried out a strategic review, reduced its staff by over 50% and negotiated self-employed terms with key personnel. Alan' was contracted to Edge, on a part-time basis, until June 2000.
In September 1999Alan' founded McKelvey Associates, a boutique training and consulting practice and Clarke & Dawe Retail. The training & consulting practice was awarded, inter alia, a 3-year contract by the NI Department of Finance and Personnel to manage the Leaders for Tomorrow Programme at Harvard University and in Boston and a 2-year contract by the N I Department for Employment and Learning to manage the post-graduate Marriott International Hospitality Management Programme in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
Since 2002 well over 1,000 solicitors in N Ireland have attended a Continuing Professional Development seminar run by McKelvey Associates. In 2005 the Bar Council of Northern Ireland accredited the practice as a provider of CPD programmes for barristers.
Other clients have included Glen-Dimplex, Boston College, Capita Group, Corporate Life Cycles and Prudential Assurance. The retail activity www.clarkeanddawe.com includes a very successful gentleman's clothiers on Belfast's fashionable Lisburn Road.
Alan' was elected Chairman of the General Committee of Belfast Harlequins, the largest multi-sport club in Ireland which includes rugby, men’s hockey, women’s hockey, squash, bowls, bridge and has a facility-sharing arrangement with St Brigid’s Gaelic Athletic Club.
He also completed two years as the inaugural President of the Queen's Graduates' Association, the alumni association of his alma mater, which was formed in 2003 by merging the Queen's University Association (Belfast) with the Queen's Women's Graduates Association. He has been a Board Member of The Friends of Queen's University Belfast North America Inc. Alan' has sat on the Committee of the Deramore & Bladon Residents Association, a community-based organisation in South Belfast. He has acted as a mentor to the Young Enterprise Company of Methodist College Belfast.
In his spare time Alan' sails in the Fairy class at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club and plays golf (seldom and badly) at Malone Golf Club. He is an avid snow skier. Divorced with two grown up daughters, Alan lives with his partner, Anne, in South Belfast.
http://www.mckelveyassociates.co.uk
Also:
www.clarkeanddawe.com
www.oldcollegians.org
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