Luke Mallett White joins IMed

Al Mills interviews our newest recruit: Luke Mallett White

Where are you from?

I was born in Mallorca. My parents are British ex-pats from Bedfordshire, but they moved to the Balearics in 1992 when my sister was 2 and I was born soon after.  Dad runs a mechanical repair shop out there and they all still call him ‘the English mechanic’!  I lived in Puerto Pollensa in Mallorca until I was in my 20s and I still holiday there with my family as often as I can.

That must have been a nice place to grow up?

Well the weather is obviously great and the beach in Pollensa is really beautiful. But it’s main industry is tourism, so as a popular holiday resort, it’s super busy in the summer and a bit of a ghost town in the winter.  On the positive side, I got to learn to scuba dive and became the youngest Instructor in the north of the Island.  I also used to build my own long boards as a teenager and had lovely long summers outside in the sun.

The education system out there wasn’t great, though, and I’ve learned a lot more working in the UK. But I suppose living there means I’m bilingual – or trilingual if you include Catalan and Castilian – so that comes in useful.   

 What kind of work experience do you have?

I had an internship at the Diving School and was also a car mechanic for a while, whilst my dad recovered from a back injury.  I’ve worked in bars in Spain and mixed (and sampled…)  lots of cocktails too, so when I came to the UK I worked as cocktail barman in a Gastropub, until I decided what career path to follow.  Since then, I’ve been more business and administration focused, though I always enjoy dealing with clients.  I became co-ordinator for a team of Warrant Officers, where I had to create lots of legal paperwork and then more recently worked as customer interface in a communications environment.

So what appealed to you about the Projects Role at IMed?

I have become more interested in technology and systems but didn’t want a pure IT role. I also really wanted to maintain my interaction with customers, as I enjoy fostering client relationships and solving problems. The Projects Co-ordinator role seemed perfect, as it had a bit of both, requiring accuracy AND relationship management. So, I was very keen.

And Life Science is new to you?

Yes – but I am finding it so interesting. I’ve already come into contact with some brilliant devices and to think that I can contribute to the supply chain of products that help patients has been unexpected and humbling. Every call is fascinating and I’m now doing lots of training on the regulations and challenges of getting Medical Devices and IVDs to market. I can already smooth the process by facilitating communication and technical documentation between the client and the expert. But the more I learn about the industry, the better I’ll get at this. IMed are a very busy consultancy and still growing, so my list gets longer every day.

What did you think you wanted to be when you were a child?

Well to play professional football for Arsenal, obviously! But I probably spent too much time gaming to get fit enough for that!

And what do you do for fun?

Still gaming – FIFA, Call of Duty etc – but I’m streaming my gameplay live these days!  (When I’m given permission by my long-suffering partner that is……). I’m also an avid Sneakerhead, so I collect vintage sports shoes and am generally interested in fashion. I love to go to the movies and eat out; I’m a huge Marvel fan. I also enjoy play-fighting with our Dogue de Bordeaux, Fleur, who some of our clients will know already from #petsofimed on LinkedIn!

Luke is looking forward to meeting more of our clients and continuing to improve our processes and the quality of our service. We are glad to have him on the team!