Adrian Flanagan was born in Nairobi, Kenya. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and studied pre-clinical medicine at King's College, London. Uncertain whether to continue with medicine, he took time out to travel through Sri Lanka and India. Returning to the UK, he went back to university, completing a degree in Osteopathic Medicine. Shortly after qualifying, a motorbike accident left him with a badly damaged wrist and an end to his fledgling osteopthoic career.
Adrian turned his focus to business, co-founding Flanagan's Supermarket Direct, the UK's first large-scale grocery home delivery service.
Sir (later Lord) Michael Sandberg, the former charirman of HSBC, joined the company as executive chairman which opened the door to a supply deal with the Sainsbury's supermarket group.
The business was sold in 1999.
Adrian continued in business as a consultant. One project involved rolling out a series of satellite osteopathic clinics in a joint partnership between the British College of Osteopathic Medicine, where Adrian had trained, and the NHS. The flagship clinic in central London was opened by The Princess Royal.
It was in 2005 that Adrian eventually realised a childhood ambition of sailing singlehanded around the world. He set sail from the south coast of England on 28 October that year. His route took him south down the Atlantic, westwards around Cape Horn, north up the Pacific Ocean, through the Bering Strait and along Russia's Arctic coast. He returned to England on 21 May 2008 to complete the first 'vertical' solo circumnavigation.
Approaching Honolulu after six months at sea
Arriving back in Southampton after 33,000 miles to a welcome cup of tea from the Royal Navy escort
The Ocean Cruising Club presented Adrian with the Award of Merit.
Adrian has also written a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Following publication of his last book, Adrian Flanagan taught himself to sculpt, seeking to capture the essence of the subject through movement, expression and pose. Adrian's wildlife pieces are limited editions, and cast in bronze at the Talos Art Foundry in Hampshire.
He has also developed a series of Sculpture Painting techniques to combine his love of abstract art and sculpture by 'painting' wax and other media onto board which is then cast in bronze.
'I have always had a fascination with both sculptural form and abstract visual art. While I have an idea of what I want to create with each piece whether it be representational or abstract, sculpture or painting, I relish that moment when the art begins to live, shaping itself, guiding my hand instead of me guiding it - that moment when the work begins to tell its own story.'
In summer 2023, Adrian began planning a new venture. Encouraged by professionals in the counselling and psychotherapy fields - among them friends, acquaintances and others whose opinions he sought - he researched the feasibility for a premium-quality online counselling directory but with marginal membership fees for professionals.
counsellorpages.com is the result.
click on the image to go to counsellorpages.com