The 30th April marks the financial close of our Year 7, but also marks the retirement of Paul Allen, one of our Founding Partners and industry heavyweights.
Whilst Paul is officially retiring and stepping down as a Member of the LLP today, he is carrying on as a Business Advisor to alinea which means he will continue to assist and support over the next 3-6 months, as Paul’s suspended travel plans become our gain.
Paul started his career in 1984, having graduated from South Bank Polytechnic (as it was known then). He initially joined G+T but soon moved to Davis, Belfield and Everest (DB&E) in 1987. In 1988, DB&E merged with a company called Langdon & Every. The merger created the company known as Davis, Langdon & Everest. After exchanging staff across the two main offices to get to know one another better, the company re-located into one building in Kingsway (between Aldwych and Holborn) and started to make a real name for itself. Paul started to shine and moved through the ranks to become an Equity Partner of that business in 1994. It was this business and during the 1990s and 2000s that many strong bonds and friendships started to be created, which still exist today among many of the people now proud to be a part of alinea.
DL&E became known as Davis Langdon in 2004 after migrating to a LLP status , and Paul’s strong track record in office development saw him take-up the role of Head of Commercial Sector for the business – the highest performing and most successful sector. By this point, a good number of alinea’s current workforce were working very closely together and had now known one another for a good number of years.
In May 2013, alinea launched itself on to the stage and from very humble beginnings which included a washing-up rota (Paul’s always been passionate about the kitchen) we now have a fantastic business of some 100 people and Paul has said that some of his proudest career moments have been in the last 7 years.
There are many things that make Paul special. His desire to succeed, his knowledge, his ability to impress clients, his thought process to get through very complex situations, his measured approach, his ability to think calmly when the pressure is on and many other traits. But these aren’t the things that make him special. What makes Paul special is being able to have these qualities but then also having an ability to wrap them with humility, a desire to see others learn and succeed, continuous acts of selflessness and, perhaps above all, his integrity.
If you’ve worked with Paul for any period of time, then I’m sure you can relate to most of these points – and Paul’s special electronic retirement card supports all of this for the alinea folk who have all had a chance to read the messages.
On behalf of everyone, thank you so much for everything you’ve done over the years, and particularly for your part in making alinea a special place to work.
We all wish you a very healthy and happy retirement, when it actually arrives for real….
