An operator-led acquirer, not a fund.
Alchemise Capital buys and runs businesses in the human capital economy. We invest our own and our partners' capital, we take control, and we stay involved in how the businesses are managed afterwards.
Guy Walker Founder
I left sixth form with two GCSEs. I have been building ever since.
My parents worked in the NHS and in social care, and the values they instilled — social responsibility, service, doing right by people — turned out to be a better business education than the one I did not get.
Since 2018 I have founded and led a group of talent businesses from Bristol: Dovetail & Slate in education and public sector recruitment, Innotech Partners in engineering, energy and sustainability, and the wider Talentia Group. Along the way we earned B Corp certification and Investors in People Gold — not as badges, but because they force you to prove how you treat people rather than simply claim it.
I have done the work I am now asking owners to trust me with. I have built desks and lost good people. I have carried the compliance risk, run the payroll, made the difficult calls about who leads what. That is why I would rather buy a business and improve it than buy one and squeeze it — I know which one actually holds.
Outside the group I chair the board of trustees at Full Circle @ Docklands in St Pauls, Bristol, and spend time mentoring people earlier in their journey than mine. Alchemise is where all of it comes together: my own capital, in businesses I understand, held for the long term.
- Alchemise CapitalFounder & Director
- Dovetail & SlateChief Executive
- Talentia GroupChief Executive
- Innotech PartnersChief Executive
- Full Circle @ DocklandsChair of Trustees
How we intend to behave
A short list, written down so it can be held against us. The commitments we make to a business we are buying are set out under partnership.
Tell people the answer early
A fast no is more valuable to an owner than a slow maybe. If we are not going to buy your business, you will hear it in days, with the reason.
Do not renegotiate at the last minute
If diligence uncovers something material we will say so immediately and explain the impact. We do not use the final week to chip a price that was agreed months earlier.
Be straight about integration
Acquisition means change, and pretending otherwise is dishonest. You will see the integration plan before completion, including the parts you will not like.
Protect the team's dignity
Staff hear news from someone they know, in a planned way, not through rumour. Where roles change, people are told directly and early.
Keep confidences absolutely
We do not approach your clients, staff or competitors without explicit permission, and we do not discuss your business with anyone who does not need to know.
Own the outcome
We are buying businesses to run, not to package and pass on. If the plan does not work, that is ours to fix rather than someone else's problem.
Why "Alchemise"
Alchemy was the attempt to turn base metal into gold. It failed as chemistry, but it remains a fair description of what good people and the right support can do for a business.
Every acquisition we make starts with one conversation.
Owners, advisers and intermediaries are all welcome to get in touch directly.