Both AAH Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Unichem Ltd have announced expansions to the financial packages they can offer to pharmacists.
Statim Financial Services, AAH Pharmaceuticals's finance subsidiary, has reached an agreement with Fortis Bank, a European banking company, to offer loans to pharmacists through the AAH loan guarantee scheme. Loans will be available for the purchase of new premises or refurbishing existing pharmacies. They can also be used for relocations or to refinance existing loans.
Interest rates of 0.75 per cent above the bank base lending rate for loans of up to five years and 0.85 per cent above bank rate up to 10 years are available.
Mr Robert Andrews (director, Statim) told The Journal on February 7 that applications to Statim for finance during 1999 had risen by 26 per cent in comparison with the previous year. More than 40 per cent of guarantees which were made were provided to gain competitor accounts. A business finance manager and three loans managers were appointed to the Statim team during the year in order to speed up the processing of applications. During 2000 Statim is planning to run a roadshow for pharmacy locums and managers entitled "Have you considered ownership as a career option?".
Unichem Ltd's commercial support division has launched a tax-related enterprise investment scheme which will enable pharmacists to receive tax breaks by investing in companies which own and run pharmacies.
Pharmacists investing in the scheme will put money into new companies which will buy pharmacy businesses and build up small chains. After five years, investors will be able to sell their shares, float them on the stock market or simply retain them. The individual companies will be operated as a tightly controlled group with input from Unichem.
According to Mr John Jaquiss (commercial support controller, Unichem) the kind of pharmacists who are likely to invest in the scheme are: those with potential capital gains liability; those wishing to claim back income tax while investing money into a business; and those considering selling a business with a turnover exceeding £350,000 to unlock capital or take advantage of retirement relief before it is phased out.