The Big Interview: Alan Leamy of Perigord -“I made the decision that our family business wasn’t going to become a statistic of second-generation failures”

The chief executive of Perigord started off as an apprentice in his father’s colour separation business, ferrying images across the Atlantic for the covers of National Geographic, Time and Life. Since then, he’s steered what started as a family business successfully through numerous changes of direction

Alan Leamy, chief executive of Perigord: ‘This was a business that had to have a life of its own and a great team that would keep it going. Not the family solely driving it on’. Picture: Fergal Phillips

In the 1980s, Alan Leamy regularly travelled back and forth between Ireland and the US. Working as an apprentice in his father’s business, it wasn’t uncommon for him to do three trips out and back across the Atlantic over a seven-day period.

The cargo Leamy was transporting was precious. In his hand luggage were the iconic images that featured on the covers of National Geographic, Time and Life magazines. Images that would ultimately be seen ...