CHIEF ALCHEMIST, THE VALUE ALCHEMISTS
Justin Neale
I help service business owners build companies that are more profitable, faster growing, and genuinely fun to run. The way I do it is by helping you articulate the value you deliver, so you can price and sell with confidence instead of competing on price.
THE STORY
From corporate to consultant, and a few wrong turns along the way
I spent 25 years in large corporate organisations, managing international teams across training, project delivery, and customer experience. That included holding the VP of Customer Experience and Managing Director roles at NAVBLUE UK, an Airbus subsidiary, at the same time.
At NAVBLUE I led a turnaround of the customer support operation. We used customer journey mapping to find the problems worth fixing, brought support back in-house, and saved €7m a year. Over the same two years, our Net Promoter Score went from -42 to +24.
But I’d got too far from doing the actual work, so I left to get back to what I loved.
I started out as Innovate CX, selling customer experience consulting to SMEs. It was a tough sell. The businesses I spoke to weren’t ready for strategic CX frameworks. They needed help with things that would make a direct, measurable difference to their finances, quickly. I had to rethink what I was actually selling.
That rethink became The Value Alchemists, built around a single idea: technically excellent businesses are leaving money on the table because they’re selling ingredients (their deliverables) when they should be selling the meal (the outcome). Ingredients get compared on price. Meals are what people pay for.
Fix that, and three things change. The business becomes more profitable, because pricing finally reflects the value being delivered. It grows faster, because the proposition is sharp enough to win without discounting. And it becomes worth substantially more should you ever want to sell, raise investment, or grow through acquisition. Whatever you choose, the optionality is yours.
HOW I WORK
What actually happens when we work together
Most consultants give you frameworks and homework. I roll my sleeves up and build the work alongside you. Every engagement combines three things, and the mix depends on what your business actually needs.
Coaching
Challenging assumptions, asking the questions that surface the real issues, and guiding you through difficult decisions. There is usually a moment in every engagement where the business owner needs to hear something they’ve been avoiding. I’m direct about it.
Mentoring
Developing your skills and confidence so the changes stick once the project ends. This is the part most consulting misses: the capability to run a pricing review next year without calling someone in. My clients understand why the changes work, not just what the changes are.
Consulting
Doing the actual work. The pricing calculator. The proposal templates. The price increase communications. The positioning document. The pitch deck. I build these with you and for you, because a report that gets filed does nothing for your business.
BEYOND VALUE ALCHEMISTS
Staying at the sharp end of AI
Aviation Advisor, AugmentAero
Alongside my client work, I hold an advisory and operational role at AugmentAero, a pre-Series A aviation technology startup building augmented reality and AI solutions for aircraft maintenance, working with airlines including easyJet and British Airways.
It keeps me close to how AI is actually being deployed in complex operational environments, which shapes how I help clients think about AI in their own businesses. It’s an unusual mix: pricing strategists rarely build at scale, and AI advisors rarely understand service businesses.
WORTH KNOWING
A few things that are worth knowing
Results, backed by a guarantee
Across my clients, profit has improved by 43% on average, often without adding a single new customer. Every engagement carries a value guarantee: if you don’t feel you’ve received value, the second payment is waived.
I work with a small number of clients
This isn’t a volume business. I take on a handful of transformation projects at any one time, so each client gets my full attention. If you’re not a good fit, I’ll tell you, and if there’s a better starting point for where you are right now, I’ll point you there instead.
I speak at events regularly
The Psychology of Price talk has been delivered at business events across the UK, to audiences ranging from SME owners to specialist industry groups. If you’re looking for a speaker on pricing, positioning, or value-based strategy, the speaking page has more detail.
If any of this sounds like your business
Book a 30-minute discovery call. No pitch and no obligation, just a straightforward conversation about where your business is now and where the value is hiding.