Apple Goes Fourth into the Capital

27th November 2006

Apple Pharmacy Group, the rapidly expanding chemist chain spearheaded by curry entrepreneur Sanjay Majhu, will this Friday (1 st December) open its fourth outlet in the Capital at 6 Eyre Place , Edinburgh .

The latest Apple in the Capital will offer all the enhanced services as required under the Scottish Executive's new pharmacy contract, including a counselling room and the provision of blood pressure checks.

Sanjay Majhu said, "We're delighted to open in Eyre Place and look forward to serving the needs of the local community with our freephone prescription service, which means that a patient can phone in an order to his local pharmacist, who will then collect it, dispense it and deliver it to the patient's address."

The Eyre Place pharmacy opens just six months after Apple acquired two Edinburgh-based pharmacies from Lindsay & Gilmour Chemists.

Said Mr Majhu, "This latest pharmacy considerably strengthens our offering in the east of Scotland . It marks the latest stage in our planned expansion which has delivered a 30 per cent hike in group turnover over the last financial year."

Apple Pharmacy started operating in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, only three years ago and now has 10 pharmacies dotted across Scotland , in Glasgow , Dundee and Edinburgh . The company's collective turnover is £5.5 million and it employs 65 staff.

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Apple Pharmacy Hands Over Cheque for £23,000 to Cystic Fibrosis Trust

December 2006

Christmas came early for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust this week when Sanjay Majhu, CEO Apple-Harlequin Group, handed over a bumper-sized cheque for £23,000 to help the charity fund vital research to enable doctors to care for those with Cystic Fibrosis more effectively.

The substantial donation follows the first ever 'Big Apple Ball', held in Glasgow earlier this year. This glittering fundraising event, attended by a host of entertainment and celebrity guests, was the brainchild of Mr Majhu, who, hearing of the Trust's need to fund vital gene therapy trails, determined to organise a night for pharmacists throughout Scotland to come together for a night of entertainment in aid of a good cause with which many of them would be familiar.

Mr Majhu said, "As someone who has had a measure of life's ups and downs, I've always felt it important to recognise the need to put something back into good causes. Charity is not something we should think about once a year - but every hour of every day. The aim of the Big Apple Ball was to give an opportunity for those of us fortunate enough to have our health, to take time out from our busy lives to think of the less fortunate and give generously."

Rosie Barnes, chief executive of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said, "Research to address the underlying causes of CF is well underway and means that those with CF have longer and better lives than before, though, as yet, there is still no cure. The money raised by supporters of the Big Apple Ball, together with the constant support of the families of those with CF and their friends, children born with CF will soon be able to look forward to the same length and quality of life as the rest of us."

Given the success of the inaugural Big Apple Ball, Mr Majhu has confirmed his intention to make this an annual fundraising event for Scotland 's pharmacists to put something back for those who need help most.

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Customer service has been given the green light at Glasgow-headquartered Apple Pharmacy as the launch of a unique freephone prescription order and delivery service on the back of a comprehensive rebranding and repositioning exercise placing the highest quality of pharmaceutical services at the core of the pharmacy's ethos.

The groundbreaking freephone prescription initiative means that, for the first time, a patient can phone in an order to his local pharmacist, who will then collect the prescription, dispense it and deliver it to the patient's address - all from the one freephone number. The service is anticipated to be of particular value to elderly and outbound patients.

Sanjay Majhu, managing director of Apple Pharmacy Group, said, 'The availability of this freephone prescription service means that anyone can arrange the delivery of a prescription to an address - for themselves, a patient or a relative - with one simple phone call, avoiding all the inconvenience of having to make arrangements to take time off work and arrange travel to and from their GP's surgery to the nearest pharmacy.

'The service means that a diabetic patient, unable to leave the workplace to travel to a chemist, can simply phone our freephone number and we will request his prescription from his GP, collect it, dispense it and deliver it to his home address.'

Apple Pharmacy Group is offering a comprehensive range of treatments through its unique freephone number, including access to such services as Head Lice Treatment, where medicines can be organised and delivered in easy-to-use weekly dossette boxes. Patients will also be offered the option to have medications delivered in a MDS (Monitored Dosage Systems) tray.

The launch of its freephone delivery initiative comes in the wake of Apple's triumph at the Scottish Pharmacy Awards when the company was presented with the Refit of the Year award for its flagship outlet at Mount Florida , Glasgow .

That redesign could not have been more dramatic - out went the traditional pharmacy look and in came a bold and contemporary, professional, customer friendly redesign with open dispensary and a fresh green light glow rebranded image. Upon entering the all-new Apple pharmacy, customers could not help but be impressed by the positive health environment created by the new look.

That impact can only have been enhanced by the creation of two consultation rooms which now enable the pharmacy to participate fully in the healthcare requirements of the community.

One room is used for everyday advice, supervised methadone service (from booth window in dispensary), newly developed needle exchange service, EHC consultation, new photographic service, prescribing of NRT and head lice treatment and such like, while the other consultation room is specially designed for near patient testing of diabetes, blood pressure monitoring, pregnancy testing - all of which may take a little while longer to discuss.

'The participation in these health services has allowed us to meet the needs of the local community and further tailor our business to what is required, hence the introduction of our own brand vitamins and new passport service to meet the ever-increasing demands of our growing clientele,' said Mr Majhu.

And judging by the response, not only has the redesign met with the approval of existing customers, it has helped attract many new customers to Apple.

'The impact the redesign has had on the business has been remarkable,' said Mr Majhu. The footfall in the shop has risen dramatically, along with prescription throughput, proving that it has paid off to place the highest possible standards of customer service at our core.'

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Capital Expansion at the Double for Apple Pharmacy Group

4th April 2006

The expanding Apple Pharmacy Group has acquired two new outlets in Edinburgh from Lindsay & Gilmour Chemists in a deal which takes its Edinburgh portfolio to four shops and its total number of outlets in Scotland to eight.

The addition of the two new outlets in Edinburgh's Dalry Road and Broughton Street takes Apple's collective turnover to £5.5 million and raises its payroll to 64 employees.

Apple Pharmacy started operating in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, only two years ago and now has pharmacies in Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh.

Apple MD Sanjay Majhu, said, 'We're delighted with this deal, which considerably strengthens our position in the east of Scotland. Our acquisition programme, together with stronger like-for-like sales within our existing units, has resulted in a 30 per cent increase in group turnover over the last financial year.'

Apple has now embarked on a rebranding exercise of its new Dalry Road and Broughton Street premises with the aim of consolidating all its units.

Said Mr Majhu, 'Our immediate objective is to fully embrace the terms of the new contract for community pharmacy in Scotland and to assess exactly what impact this will have on our bottom line.

'As the pharmaceutical sector continues to progress towards professional services status, we are in the midst of a comprehensive review of our current working practices with the aim of identifying how we might best set about improving our services rather than simply seeking increased volumes of prescription throughput.'

Apple Pharmacy recently won the Scottish Business Development of the Year award at the prestigious Scottish Pharmacy Awards.

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