Serial entrepreneur, Group MD of Capital Business Media, former advisor to the UK Government on small business, and one of the UK's leading voices on the SME economy.
Three decades at the intersection of media, enterprise and the small business economy.
Richard Alvin is a serial entrepreneur and investor whose career began at the London Docklands Development Corporation before he acquired Docklands News, then the UK's largest single-edition local newspaper.
As founder and Group Managing Director of Capital Business Media, now with offices in London, New York and Florida, he built Business Matters into the UK's largest business magazine, appointed the official business magazine of the London 2012 Olympics, alongside titles including Travelling For Business, EV Powered, Not Ltd and Property Portfolio Investor. He is also chairman of Trends Research, the SME-focused research firm founded in partnership with the Telegraph Media Group.
A former advisor on small business to the UK Government and the Mayor of London, Richard is a Freeman of the City of London for services to business and charity, winner of the London Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year, and an Honorary Teaching Fellow and Entrepreneur in Residence at Lancaster University. In the US, he hosted the business-rescue television show Save Our Business, broadcast on HBO and TNT.
Current ventures, appointments and recognition.
Founder & Group MD of the publisher with offices in London, New York and Florida behind over a dozen media brands in print, online, digital and in-person.
Chairman of the specialist SME research firm, providing insight on the UK small business community.
Former host of the US business-advice television show, broadcast on HBO and TNT.
Honorary Teaching Fellow and Entrepreneur in Residence, supporting the next generation of founders.
Active angel investor and advisor to early-stage companies across media, fashion and technology.
Honoured for services to business and charity; LCC Business Person of the Year.
Coming Christmas 2026.
Twelve Specialists · One Business
No founder builds a business alone. The twelve specialists who build it with you.
Every business that works is the product of a group of people, most of whom never appear on the masthead. The accountant who tells you the truth about your numbers. The lawyer who reads the clause you skimmed. The salesperson who opens the door you couldn't. The friend who has been through it before and tells you it passes.
Drawing on three decades of building, buying and rescuing businesses — and on the founders Richard has advised, invested in and interviewed along the way — It Takes A Village sets out the twelve roles every founder needs around them, what each one is genuinely for, when to bring them in, and how to tell the good ones from the expensive ones.
Published by Negotiis Books. Pre-order details available in the Autumn.
Regular columns on business, politics and the economy, published in Business Matters.
What the new political moment can learn from the West Midlands playbook on growth.
Read the column →Why the heatwave is an argument for accelerating the transition, not abandoning it.
Read the column →The founder community's verdict on a changing political landscape.
Read the column →Press freedom, corporate caution and what it means for business reporting.
Read the column →Why the 550,000+ businesses of rural Britain deserve a national stage.
Read the column →The most valuable asset in any business is the founder's mindset.
Read the column →For speaking engagements, media commentary or anything else, I read everything.
ralvin@cbmeg.co.uk