McKelvey Associates design, develop and deliver legal Continuing Professional Development programmes. Over 70% of all solicitors in Northern Ireland have attended a McKelvey Associates legal CPD seminar.

Each year all solicitors practising in Northern Ireland must undertake 10 hours of Continuing Professional Development in group study.
Two of the ten must include Risk Management, for those in private practice.

Furthermore, all solicitors practising in Northern Ireland, who undertake, or are involved in, any conveyancing transaction, are required to undertake three hours of Compulsory Conveyancing Group Study.

Each year, since CPD was made compulsory by the Law Society in 2002, McKelvey Associates have delivered a series of seminars with outstanding speakers and topical subject matter. In December 2021, and also in 2022, because of the Covid pandemic, the seminar programme was available for viewing on YouTube. These were well received by those attending and resulted in many compliments, such as :-

I found the seminars informative and helpful. In particular, they were convenient as one could watch them at one’s choice of time. I will certainly use this service in the coming year, Deo Volente. 

YouTube certainly suits me better (rather than travelling to Belfast or the like). Also means I can watch at a time that suits

We plan to repeat having our CPD seminars available on YouTube for 2024, subject to the usual caveats.

For more information on the topics, speakers, venue, dates, CPD hours and fees please refer to the appropriate section of this website.

Alan McKelvey

Alan McKelvey is founder & principal of McKelvey Associates
Alan McKelvey is founder & principal of McKelvey Associates

Following a secondary education at Methodist College, Belfast, Alan McKelvey graduated from Queen’s University, Belfast with a degree in Economics and Accounting. During his years at Queen’s McKelvey 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. McKelvey’s powerful debating style resulted in his appearing in almost 30 television programmes during this time.

After university McKelvey 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 McKelvey had been Acting General Manager in Northern Ireland.

After leaving RMC, McKelvey set up his own ready-mix 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 McKelvey’s business interests.

McKelvey 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 McKelvey 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 McKelvey leaving the building materials industry in 1995 to head up the Euroventure Export Marketing Programmes Division as Chief Executive.

During McKelvey’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.

McKelvey 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. McKelvey was contracted to Edge, on a part-time basis, until June 2000.

In September 1999 McKelvey founded McKelvey Associates, a boutique training and consulting practice and also Clarke & Dawe, clothiers, tailors and shirtmakers trading in Belfast’s premier shopping area, the Lisburn Road. Clarke & Dawe traded successfully until 2013 when, on the expiration of the lease on its premises, the business closed. All of the stock and fittings were sold in a clearance sale and the creditors paid in full.

In 2000 the training & consulting practice was awarded, inter alia, a 3-year contract by the NI Government’s Department of Finance and Personnel to manage the Leaders for Tomorrow Programme at Harvard University and a 2-year contract by the Department for Employment and Learning to manage the post-graduate Marriott International Hospitality Management Programme in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.

In 2002 the Law Society in N Ireland introduced Continuing Professional Development requirements for solicitors. McKelvey Associates designed a range of seminars to meet these requirements and since then well over 1,900 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.

Alan McKelvey was Chairman of the General Committee of Belfast Harlequins from 2007-2013. This is the largest multi-sport club in Ireland which includes rugby, men’s hockey, women’s hockey, squash, bowls and has a facility-sharing arrangement with St Brigid’s GAC. He was President of Belfast Harlequins RFC and Belfast Harlequins Club 2015-16.

He was also President of the Methodist College Belfast Former Pupils Association 2010-12.

McKelvey 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 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. McKelvey 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.

He has been Rector’s Churchwarden and People’s Churchwarden in the Anglican Parish of St John’s Malone in South Belfast where he was also Security Rota Convenor from 1999-2016.

Currently he is Chair of the Long Compton Community Fete Association which organises a major event in the Cotswolds village where he and his partner Anne live.

In his spare time McKelvey is a director and trustee of Masicorp UK Ltd (Charity Commission:1137358) in the UK and a Non-executive Director of the Masiphumelele Corporation in S Africa, both known as Masicorp. This hugely successful charity has the over-riding aim of improving the lives of 38,000+ people living in the Masiphumelele Township which is situated in the Cape Peninsula roughly half way between Fish Hoek and Kommetjie and 30 minutes’ drive from Cape Town.

Masicorp assists with

  • bringing the standards of township creches up to the level required for government registration,
  • raising the educational standards in Ukhanyo Primary School by developing teachers in post and providing opportunities for physical education and sport, and
  • providing adult education opportunities, including IT skills to ICDL standard at an accredited centre in the township’s only library which Masicorp built.

On 11 June 2016 it was announced in the London Gazette that The Queen has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of the Celebration of Her Majesty’s Birthday, to approve the award of the British Empire Medal (Civil Division) to Alan McKelvey for services to the community in Northern Ireland.

He has sailed in the Fairy class at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club and played golf (seldom and badly) at Malone Golf Club. He was a keen skier.

McKelvey is a member of Mensa, the high IQ society.

His clubs are Belfast Harlequins and Kelvin Grove, Cape Town.

Alan McKelvey with his daughter Nicola and George Mitchell, former US Senator, Middle East peace envoy and then Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast.
Alan McKelvey with his daughter Nicola and George Mitchell, former US Senator, Middle East peace envoy and then Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast.

Divorced with two grown up daughters, Rebecca and Nicola, a step-daughter Rebecca and six beautiful grand children, Lucy, Sophie May, Harry, Felix Alan, Ella and Willow, McKelvey lives with his partner Anne in the Cotswolds and Cape Town.