Yesterday, we learned that senior Alamy executive Alan Capel is stepping down from his position as Director of Transformation and leaving the stock photo agency he’s been an integral part of for the last two decades.
Per the company’s words, Capel was instrumental in turning Alamy from a promising startup into the well-cemented, global business it is today. He is also a renowned stock media and digital business expert, constantly participating in industry events like the recent CEPIC Congress 2023.
Know more about Alan Capel in Alamy below.
Alan Capel’s 23 Years at Alamy
Alan Capel joined Alamy in 2000 as Head of Content after serving for two years in an identical role for a smaller agency. At the time, Alamy was a young startup that had been in business for only a few months, had five employees total, including him, and the library he was overseeing consisted of a few hundred images. From then until 2018, Capel turned that initial library into a rich catalog with hundreds of millions of images. Right now, Alamy hosts over 350 million files.
From 2018 to this day, he escalated positions in the company, going through CCO, Commercial Director, and Operations Director up until 2020, when PA Media Group acquired Alamy, and Alan was appointed Director of Business Transformation, the role he is stepping down from today.
Such a long and successful tenure in the company leaves Capel with 30 years of experience in the photographic industry and invaluable knowledge in digital and creative business.
Alamy has issued a press release to bid Capel farewell, where they relay their best wishes for his future and praise his “visionary leadership and deep understanding of the evolving digital landscape” that helped shape the company's present.
The man will be effectively leaving his role at the end of June 2023, and his responsibilities will be taken over by several of Alamy’s senior executives.
Alan Capel in the Stock Media Industry: CEPIC Congress 2023
Alamy’s Managing Director, Emily Shelley, described Alan Capel as one of the agency’s “most popular faces both inside the business and externally within the industry.” This is partially thanks to Alan’s participation as a speaker in some of the most attended industry events.
For example, he was recently part of the discussion panel on “Generative AI as business opportunity” during the CEPIC Congress 2023’s AI Day last May 11th, alongside our resident industry expert Amos Struck, Mark Milstein and Michel Osterreider from vAIsual, and ImageRights’ Joe Naylor.
Alan Capel’s Future: Personal Endeavors
According to a blog post by Alamy, Capel's plans for after his departure include part-time consultancy, spending more time at home in England, and developing a holiday rental business there, among other goals.
Per the same article, the company states they are sad to see him go but understand and respect his decision.
It’s interesting to see what changes (or what doesn’t change) in Alamy after the departure of one of his most senior executive leaders. For what’s worth, both Shelley and Capel are optimistic that his knowledge stays in his colleagues, who are more than capable of continuing to lead the agency in the right direction.
