Our team

Derek Watts

Director, Corporate Strategy

Derek has been involved with Aluminati throughout its existence and remains one of the major shareholders in the business. With over 30 years’ experience in founding and growing successful international enterprises, Derek’s knowledge and guidance has been essential to the success of the company. As the owner and Managing Director of Nitritex, a phenomenally successful global cleanroom and medical consumables supplier, he contributes invaluable high-level leadership to Aluminati.

Louise Wong

Senior Client Engagement Manager

Louise was appointed in early 2015 to lead the client and customer support team, and is responsible for working closely with our clients to understand their needs, identify solutions and advise client deployments and projects. Post-launch she shares expertise on how to get the most from our applications, as well as sharing general best practice amongst the Higher Education sector.

Louise is not only the main contact for clients, but she also manages Aluminati’s marketing, events and internal recruitment. She has a sound commercial background developed in the fast-paced Sales and Marketing Recruitment industry, working with clients across the Education, Technology and Professional Services sectors.

Cy Robinson

Client Engagement Manager

Coming from a background of managing national sales and corporate employee benefits, Cy enjoys engaging with all sorts of people on all levels of business to ensure the best liaison experience is met.

Spending his lunch times in the gym and being a model/actor and DJ on the side, Cy is a happy. non-stop kind of guy.

Krisper Nõlve

Senior Systems Developer

Krisper was very much a 21st century recruit. Having applied for the role from his homeland in Estonia, we interviewed him over Skype and were impressed by his direct no-nonsense answers to our technical questions. Krisper flew over to join us in 2012 and has been a core part of our development team, working on new products and features for our membership. Krisper likes to microwave oven pizzas and no one knows why.

James Martin

Web Developer

With an Internet Technology degree from Portsmouth and several years of experience working agency-side, developing websites and web apps, James joined the Aluminati family in 2015. James is a master of dog agility, with his trusty sidekicks, Toby, Pepe and Cooper.

Andi Sherratt

Systems Administrator

With 20 years’ experience in the industry, Andi fulfills the critical Systems Administrator role and ensures that our server infrastructure remains available despite constant growth. A truly dedicated hero, Andi responds at any time of night or day to ensure that any problems are resolved immediately. His previous experience working at a company protecting militarily sensitive data enables him to also take a crucial lead on securing our systems and data. Andi is a keen and accomplished homebrewer, often bringing in small samples to share.

Emily Grant

Quality Control Supervisor and Illustrator

Emily joined Aluminati in our support team and has risen up  the ranks through support supervisor to her current position as Quality Control Supervisor. Emily now works closely with the development team to ensure that new features and bug fixes are up to muster. Nothing goes live without her approval and the development team strives to win it! The multi-talented Emily is our first aider and, having a degree in Illustration also contributes her creative talents.

Shaun White

Customer Support Officer

Shaun is the latest, chirpy addition to the technical support team. Shaun previously worked in customer services for Spotify, used to be a snowboard instructor and enjoys keeping trim and fit in the gym.

Jessica Ellerton

Office Manager

Having previously worked at Hastings Direct as their Office Coordinator for 7 years, Jessica now manages the Aluminati office helping to keep it running like clockwork on a day-to-day basis, and provides direct administrative support for the Managing Director. In her spare time she enjoys travelling as much as she can, and loves to cook and try out new recipes!

Julia Wu

Procurement Manager (China)

Julia heads up our Shanghai sourcing operation. With over 20 years experience of dealing with Chinese industry, Julia helps us to find the best manufacturers for the products that we supply. She leads a dedicated team including Wendy (logistics, production), Amy (new supplier research) and Grace (quality control and assurance). Together they guarantee the reliable flow of exceptional value and, high-quality goods for our customers.

Martin Richards

Regulatory Affairs Consultant

Martin Richards has over 40 years’ experience in chemistry and is the expert we consult to ensure that we comply with the various substance regulations surrounding the importing of goods into the EU. He is a long-standing member of the Chemical Hazards Communication Society and a full Member of the Institute of Leadership and Management, as well as being a BSI-trained internal auditor. Martin’s expertise on developments in REACH, CLP and, GHS is constantly updated, as he sits on committees such as the HSE’s UN sub-committee of expert stakeholder’s panel and the environmental panel of the British Coatings Federation.