Putting family, flexibility and fulfilment first: Lianne Marsh’s Alchemy VA story
After more than two decades building a career in financial services, Lianne Marsh is preparing to put her extensive experience in organisation, process improvement, client services and team leadership into a business of her own. Based in Hazel Grove, Stockport, Lianne will launch her Alchemy VA franchise in November, supporting businesses across Stockport and Cheshire East.
For Lianne, the move represents much more than a career change. Following a breast cancer diagnosis in 2022 and almost two years away from work while she recovered, she returned to the corporate world with a different perspective on what she wanted from her career and life.
Now, she is looking forward to creating a business that gives her greater flexibility, allows her to make a tangible difference to other businesses and puts her firmly in control of her own future.
Building a career in financial services
Lianne has lived in the Stockport area all her life, moving to Hazel Grove when she was 11. Today, she lives there with her husband Ben and their two children, Leah and Niall.
After leaving school, Lianne studied Business at Stockport College before beginning her career with the Bank of New York in Manchester.
Starting in a back-office role, she quickly progressed into client services, taking responsibility for several major clients and their portfolios. Her role involved reporting, relationship management and acting as a key point of contact between clients and the bank.
Determined to develop her career further, Lianne completed a degree in Financial Services part-time alongside her job.
She subsequently moved into stockbroking operations, working across corporate actions administration and client services. The role required meticulous attention to detail, from researching and validating information to managing transactions, reconciliations and dividend payments/stock settlement.
Keen to work closer to home, Lianne moved into financial planning, initially as an administrator before progressing into paraplanning. She completed her Diploma in Financial Planning and eventually became a paraplanning team leader.
Her responsibilities continued to grow, including managing specialist work around final salary transfers, developing compliant templates and processes and leading teams.
Following the acquisition of the business by Ascot Lloyd, Lianne remained with the company for seven years, during which time she had her second child. When she returned from maternity leave, she soon progressed to Paraplanning Manager, with responsibility for a team of around 20 people.
A change in perspective
In 2022, Lianne was diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently spent almost two years away from work recovering.
She returned in March 2024, initially through a phased return and supporting roles while she found her feet again.
As the company embarked on a transformation programme designed to improve efficiency across the business, Lianne found herself moving into a new role as a Transformation Business Analyst.
It proved to be a natural fit.
Drawing on years of experience working with processes and people, Lianne helped identify unnecessary steps and opportunities to work more efficiently. She also played a key role in introducing AI-powered reporting software, helping to train colleagues, encourage adoption and gather feedback to improve the resulting reports for clients.
Together with the project lead, she has delivered over 40 training sessions during 2026.
As the transformation project began to reach its natural conclusion, Lianne found herself considering what she wanted her own next chapter to look like.
Her experience with cancer had changed her outlook. She wanted greater flexibility to be present for her children and family, more autonomy over her working life and the opportunity to prove to herself that she could build something successful on her own terms.
“I wanted to be in control of my own destiny,” says Lianne. “Going through cancer makes you reassess things. I didn’t want that experience to mean I had to stay in a job that wasn’t making me happy. I wanted to take everything I’ve learnt throughout my career and use it to make a difference to other people and their businesses.”
Discovering Alchemy VA
Lianne first came across Alchemy VA while researching the possibilities of becoming a Virtual Assistant.
Although she already understood the concept of virtual assistance, she was surprised by just how broad the opportunity could be and quickly recognised how closely it matched the work she had most enjoyed throughout her career. She contacted Alchemy and first spoke to founder Suzy Sanders in April 2026.
“I was at a crossroads and needed to work out whether this was genuinely feasible for me,” says Lianne. “From that first conversation, I really liked Suzy and the idea behind Alchemy. I thought, ‘What have I got to lose?’”
Before making her decision, Lianne did what comes naturally after a career built around research, processes and due diligence: she gathered as much information as possible.
She spoke to established Alchemy franchise partners as well as newer members of the network to understand their different experiences. What she found was the combination she had been looking for - the independence of running her own business without having to do everything alone.
“The support really appealed to me,” she says. “Suzy and Paul are so invested in the franchisees, and you have the other franchise partners around you too. There are virtual coffees and opportunities to talk things through. You already know there is someone in your corner.”
Alchemy's values were another important factor.
Lianne has been particularly impressed by the emphasis placed on mindset during her initial training and the encouragement to understand her personal motivations for building the business.
“The training has been a really pleasant surprise,” she explains. “It has the structure and quality of corporate training, but there is also a real focus on mindset - understanding what is important to you, finding your ‘why’ and keeping that at the forefront. It feels designed to set you up to succeed.”
Turning experience into support for other businesses
Lianne plans to officially launch her franchise at the beginning of November, covering Stockport and Cheshire East.
Her extensive background means she can offer much more than traditional administrative support. Lianne particularly enjoys examining the way a business works and identifying how it could work better.
She will be able to help clients create and improve processes and procedures, streamline logistics, develop toolkits and new starter processes, and undertake research and data gathering.
Her services will also include proofreading and publishing, blog and creative writing, marketing and social media support, event assistance and life administration.
With more than two decades of experience within financial services, Lianne sees financial advisers and related professional services businesses as a natural market, although she is looking forward to supporting organisations from a range of sectors.
Ultimately, she wants to work with business owners who recognise the value of having trusted support beside them - freeing them from tasks that take up valuable time while also helping their businesses operate more effectively.
Building something of her own
Initially, Lianne's focus will be on establishing the business, developing a strong client base and creating a steady income.
Her longer-term ambitions, however, go much further.
Within the next three to five years, she would love to establish an Alchemy VA ‘HQ’ of her own, working alongside a team of associates and, in turn, creating flexible working opportunities for other people.
The prospect combines many of the elements Lianne has enjoyed most throughout her career: developing people, creating structure, solving problems and seeing something through from beginning to end.
And although moving away from a long-established corporate career to start a business is a significant leap, Lianne believes preparation can give people the confidence to make a change.
“If you've gathered all the information, done your research and know you want to make the change, then go for it,” she says. “I’m someone who naturally wants to dot the i's and cross the t's, so I've done that. I've got a plan and now it's time to go for it.”
Life beyond business
When she isn't working, Lianne enjoys going to the gym, reading, walking and spending time with friends and family. Hazel Grove provides the perfect base, combining a strong sense of community with easy access to both Manchester and the countryside of Cheshire and the Peak District.
Fundraising is also an important part of Lianne's life.
Following her own experience of breast cancer, she has become heavily involved in supporting breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel. Two years ago, she completed a trek in the Himalayas and raised over £8,000, and she has since taken part in further walking challenges, including a recent trek in the Lake District; bringing the total fundraising to over £10,000 from all treks.
As she prepares to launch her Alchemy VA business, that same determination is being channelled into another challenge - building a business that works for Lianne and her family while helping other people achieve more in theirs.
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