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Employee Profile - Mike Galvin
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Profile on Mike Galvin our Business Development Manager
Family life:
Mike currently lives in Loughborough with his wife Julie who he met years ago at a parent teacher’s disco when he was on the school’s Board of Governors. They head a bustling family of four - James, a successful quantity surveyor, Dale, an IT manager for a company that manufactures circuit boards, Lisa, a fabulous hairstylist and Lauren, the feisty one who is currently completing a course in extreme sport business management at the University of Southampton. 
Work History:
Mike joined Smith & McLaurin in April 2004 as our Business Development Manager in Southern England (Below the A50 from Derbyshire all the way Dorset and Cornwall). Since then he has been a key member of the new dynamic sales team that was put together when the company came under new management. Mike started his working life in 1969 as an apprentice engineer at Kent Instruments, a company which manufactures water-flow meters that is commonly seen in houses in the UK and also in the construction of dams etc. From this technical role, in 1977, he decided to try his hand at sales and moved to Weber Marking as a Reprographic Sales Engineer, where he focused on selling technical solutions to a wide range of customers. Other companies he has worked for includes Simpson Labels, in Edinburgh and Bemrose Booth, who is currently a customer of ours. Given the close knit nature of the labeling industry, it is no surprise that Mike’s relationship with Smith & McLaurin began during his time with Simpson Labels as they used to purchase their ticket and tag material from us on a regular basis.
Mike’s sees what he does as offering a solution to his customers’ problems not just selling a product. In all his years of experience he has found that he has an inherent ability to build trust with his customers, with a majority of them seeing him as an extension of their business. In fact, it is not uncommon to see Mike receiving regular calls from customers asking him for advice when choosing materials etc. Mike also finds that his way of working is an excellent fit with Smith & McLaurin’s own ethos of putting the customer first and believes that when it comes to customer service, we’re ahead of the market.
Interests:
Mike has had a life long passion for motorcycles, that began at the tender age of sixteen and is currently the proud owner of a 1200 cc BMW, with the leathers and a risqué t-shirt to match! He’s owned a wide range of bikes from his first, an Ariel 350, a 1957 single cylinder model, followed closely by a Yamaha 650 Twin, followed by a 1100 cc Suzuki 1.1 litre, a three cylinder Triumph Trident, then a Triumph Daytona, another three cylinder bike but “faster and prettier”, in Mike’s words. Following this, he bought himself a sexy red 944 cc Ducati ST5, which he recently sold to buy his new monster BMW.
While his wife Julie has never taken the bikes out for a spin, she has her own set of leathers and is the perfect pillion rider. In fact, they are off on holiday for a week, touring Spain and France in the summer with two other couples and their bikes from the BMW Owners Club. 
With the bike and the leathers it will hardly come as a surprise that Mike and his missus are avid rock fans and were recently spotted at a Killer’s concert, having a fantastic time. Other favourites include Brian Ferry of the Roxy Music fame.
Future Plans:
For his future plans, Mike sees himself continuing to do what he does best - working with customers at solving their problems and utilising his years of field experience and fantastic communication skills to their best advantage. He also hopes to see Smith & McLaurin grow from strength to strength and even has a pair of chameleon cufflinks to show his commitment to the SMCL brand!
E: Mike.Galvin@smcl.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 07795 403258
Posted on 03 March, 2009
