From mining to mentoring: How Tom Allchurch found his coaching purpose

Coaching has been a thread running through a career that has taken Tom from mining and business ownership to building his own coaching practice. Having experienced the value of coaching from inside his own business, Tom eventually returned to the discipline, joining ActionCOACH in 2020 – the world’s number one business coaching franchise.

Six years on, Tom has built a business across two territories, developed a small team and supported business owners and their employees through significant personal and professional changes. Along the way, ActionCOACH’s training, support and franchise partner community have given him the tools and network to turn his experience into a growing coaching business. But it is seeing that development reflected in his clients that remains the biggest reward, from helping people gain the knowledge and confidence to step into their own potential and seeing their businesses grow as a result.

Leadership from the ground up

After qualifying as a mining engineer, Tom spent 13 years working in the coal industry before moving into ownership. With backing from private equity, he bought a mine from his former employers and began expanding the company through acquisitions and organic growth.

“We went from around 100 people to 500 in about four years, so I experienced first-hand what happens as a company grows quickly,” said Tom. “As we grew, I became much more aware of culture and the importance of developing people.”

Rapid expansion brought its challenges. As headcount increased, Tom felt the culture had started to drift away from the environment he wanted to create, prompting him to hire his own coach.

From there, he trained 20 coaches across the organisation and introduced a cross-department coaching programme for the management team. “It became a way to bring people together, develop the management team and create greater ownership across the business.”

Rediscovering coaching

After leaving the company, Tom found himself drawn back to coaching, initially working from home. He knew ActionCOACH through a family member, and a conversation during the pandemic encouraged him to explore the franchise further.

“I knew I had plenty of commercial experience but there were areas where I didn’t have the same level of confidence. ActionCOACH gave me an opportunity to build on what I already knew while having the expertise around me to improve what I didn’t.”

A taster session was followed by ActionCOACH’s training programme, where Tom discovered a structured model, practical resources and a wider toolkit for establishing his practice. In October 2020, he launched his first territory in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Learning alongside the best

One of the most valuable parts of the initial training was the relationships Tom formed with other franchise partners. Those early connections introduced him to a wider ActionCOACH community which has since become one of the standout parts of his experience.

“There’s so much knowledge and experience across ActionCOACH and people are always willing to share it,” said Tom. “I’m still being coached myself, so I’m constantly learning and getting another perspective on my own business.”

As Tom’s own expertise has grown, he has also started sharing more of his experience with other coaches and helping them work through challenges. “I’m now at a point where I can give something back as well. There’s a real willingness to help each other and share what works, which is incredibly valuable.”

Expanding his reach and his clients’ potential

Tom expanded from Stroud into Trowbridge before switching to Gloucester in July 2025, bringing his second territory closer to home.

Today, two part-time team members support him across administration support and business development, while his client base includes around 11 one-to-one clients and three businesses receiving group coaching.

The real reward of coaching comes to life in the changes Tom sees in his clients. One client initially struggled to find his place within a family business before gaining confidence and taking on greater responsibility. When his father became ill, he was ready to step forward and support both his family and the company.

“You can see someone change in front of you,” said Tom. “They start taking more accountability, their confidence grows and suddenly they’re capable of doing things they wouldn’t have believed possible before.”

Such moments have shaped Tom’s approach, encouraging him to listen more closely and recognise when someone needs coaching questions or practical mentoring drawn from his own career. “I’ve learned to listen much more. People need different things from you at different moments, and understanding what will help them move forward is a big part of being a successful coach.”

His approach has delivered measurable outcomes too, with Tom achieving ActionCOACH’s Best Client Results across South West & South Wales in both 2022 and 2026.

Looking forward to what comes next

Tom sees plenty more opportunity to continue doing the work he enjoys. His focus is simple: keep coaching, continue learning and help more business owners realise their potential, while enjoying the journey along the way.

Year after year of five-star satisfaction: ActionCOACH continues to set the franchise benchmark

Tom’s experience is not unique when it comes to ActionCOACH’s franchise partners. Independent feedback gathered by WorkBuzz, which surveys thousands of franchisees across hundreds of brands on their experience within their networks, reveals ActionCOACH’s world-class levels of franchise partner satisfaction.

In fact, ActionCOACH has achieved 5-star franchise satisfaction every year since the WorkBuzz survey began in 2013, making it one of only two outstanding franchise brands to maintain an unbroken 5-star record throughout this 14-year period.
This year’s survey results continue this impressive track record, with ActionCOACH achieving an overall franchise satisfaction score of 84%, up from 78% in 2025. Other standout scores included 98% of partners saying the franchisor’s field support aids their operations and 96% value the peer support available across the network.

Strong scores across training, culture and leadership provide further evidence of a franchise model designed to equip ambitious entrepreneurs with the expertise, systems and community to pursue their goals with confidence.

“Franchise partners already had incredibly high levels of confidence in ActionCOACH UK, yet the brand continues to find ways to raise the bar,” said Sharon Weston, Head of Franchising at WorkBuzz. “Maintaining this level of satisfaction year after year is an outstanding achievement and sends a powerful message to prospective franchise partners about the quality of the network they could be joining.”

“We’re really proud to sustain this level of success for well over a decade,” added Managing Director of ActionCOACH UK, Julie Wagstaff. “Being one of only two franchise brands to achieve five-star satisfaction every year since 2013 is a fantastic achievement, but what matters most is hearing that our franchise partners genuinely value the support and community around them.

“It’s recognition that our model works and allows us to continue having a meaningful impact on thousands of business owners up and down the country.”

For ambitious entrepreneurs considering their next move, these results offer powerful reassurance. An ActionCOACH franchise partner receives access to world-class systems, training, expert guidance and a high-performing peer network from day one, giving them a formidable platform from which to pursue their own commercial ambitions.

Discover more about the ActionCOACH franchise by clicking HERE, or on the button below.