Apple Pharmacy makes more acquisitions

3:51pm Thursday 29th November 2007

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Curry entrepreneur Sanjay Majhu in partnership with Neeraj Salwan and Harminder Shergill, has made two major acquisitions.

The acquisitions of GW Allan, a 40-year-old family business based in Portobello, Edinburgh, and Paul Martin's Alexandra Parade Pharmacy in Glasgow and Murray Pharmacy in Murray Square, East Kilbride, take the number of Apple Pharmacy outlets in Scotland to 13.

The deals also raise Apple Pharmacy's employee numbers to 130 and consolidate its position as Scotland's fastest growing independent pharmacy chain.

Managing director of Apple Pharmacy, Neeraj Salwan said, "Historically, GW Allan has enjoyed a reputation as being one of the top pharmacies in the east of Scotland, so we regard this acquisition as a real achievement.

"I'm particularly pleased that we've managed to convince both James Allan and his brother George to continue working into their retirement as part of the Apple Pharmacy team as their combined experience will be invaluable to the company."

Sanjay Majhu, chief executive of Apple Pharmacy, said, "Paul Martin is widely regarded within the healthcare sector as being one of the best operators in Scotland so to be able to successfully acquire two of his outlets is a mark of just how far Apple has progressed over the last four years.

"Both the GW Allan pharmacy and Paul Martin's outlets are well-established operations with hard-won reputations for professionalism and I can confirm to their customers that we will ensure that their exceptional levels of customer service will be maintained.

"Both operations have provided Apple with an impressive infrastructure with a fresh injection of extremely competent and professional staff, all of whom will be retained.

"My ambition for Apple Pharmacy is to become Scotland's biggest independent pharmacy retailer and, to that end, we have put in place an aggressive expansion strategy comprising both organic growth, through the winning of new contracts for new pharmacies, as well as further acquisitions.

"And it would be great to be at the helm of both Harlequin Leisure, the largest chain of independent restaurants in Europe, and the largest independent pharmacy chain in Scotland at the same time - even if only for a brief period. That is my objective - to own the largest operations in two completely different market sectors simultaneously. That would be a remarkable achievement."

The latest acquisitions take group sales of Apple Harlequin to in excess of £21million.