Another successful UKIO for Ellew MedTech Talent

The orange and black campervan rolled into Liverpool Marina on the Sunday evening, just as it did for UKIO 2025. There’s something about pulling up in your own space, kettle on, feet up, with a ten minute walk along the Mersey between me and the ACC. It’s quickly become my UKIO ritual, my own home from home.

I’m Aidan Pearce, founder of Ellew MedTech Talent, a recruitment firm specialising in the radiology MedTech sector. Before recruitment, I spent years inside the industry in technical, project and commercial roles, across the NHS, private healthcare, and industry vendors. So UKIO feels less like a work trip and more like a homecoming.

I’ve got fond memories of UKIO going back years. The evening events, the piano playing into the evening, the year a certain vendor brought the Olympic torch. Many of the same faces have been in this industry for decades. The technology moves on, but the spirit of the event remains, everyone knows each other and everyone is made to feel welcome.

This year, like every year, I spent most of my time catching up with friends, clients, and candidates, both old and new. What I didn’t do, was use UKIO to promote my recruitment services. The companies exhibiting had invested significant budget to be there. They’re navigating an increasingly challenging market and UKIO was their moment to showcase what they’ve built and have meaningful conversations about their products. That space belonged to them, not me.

So I went to listen. To learn what’s coming next, to see the technology, and to hear from the people developing and using it. You can’t recruit well in a sector you don’t genuinely understand, and there’s no better place to stay close to radiology than UKIO.

Since launching Ellew in June 2024, I’ve worked with Hexarad, Soliton, Harrison.ai, Airs Medical and others building serious capability in the radiology MedTech space. Hexarad is a nice example of how Ellew works. I used to work there before moving into recruitment, and when their hiring manager, someone I’d built a strong relationship with on the candidate side needed to fill a BDM role, the call came to me. That kind of trust isn’t something you can manufacture, it’s earned one conversation at a time.

Ellew is deliberately low volume, which means spending real time understanding what a hiring manager actually needs. Candidates get the same treatment, understanding their experience, their challenges, and what they want next, so they only go forward for roles where they’ll genuinely fit. A client recently told me I’m good at what I do because I genuinely care. I’ll take that.

Three days at UKIO goes quickly. There were hiring managers I didn’t get to meet and conversations I didn’t get to finish. If you’re recruiting in radiology MedTech, or if we did catch up and you’d like to pick up the conversation properly, scan the QR code to book a call.

Picture: Aidan Pearce with the Olympic torch at a past UKIO.

This news story has been sponsored by the companies concerned and does not represent the views or opinions of RAD Magazine.