Alan undertook his anaesthetic training in the West of Scotland, concluding with a year-long fellowship in regional anaesthesia at Toronto Western Hospital in 2008. He returned to Glasgow to take up a consultant post in 2009 where he is a full-time clinician, as well as an Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow. He is an Editor for BJA Education, on the associate Editorial board of the BJA and Past President of RA-UK. He is on the board of the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia, the board of the ESRA Diploma of Regional Anaesthesia and has recently been appointed Clinical Lead of the Royal College of Anaesthetists’ NAP8 project which is studying complications of regional anaesthesia.