The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7249 p671
17 May 2003

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Numark to focus on raising standards of its worst-performing members

NUMARK is to enforce minimum standards on its community pharmacy members, concentrating on raising the standard of its worst-performing ones first.

Speaking at a press briefing last week, Numark managing director David Wood said: “We want the worst to improve and we are starting with carrot rather than stick.” However, if members fail to improve the standards of their premises and service despite help and advice then Numark will cancel their membership.

“We are prepared to confront that if we need to,” Mr Wood said.

The company has formed a retail standards and advisory board consisting of the pharmacist chairmen of its regional consultation committees. The board will adjudicate on pharmacies deemed to be in need of help to achieve the basic standards. As a first step, a photographic survey will be made of each pharmacy. The board will start by concentrating on the bottom 5 per cent, by visual appearance, of Numark’s 1,552 member pharmacies. Numark believes that there are a number of simple things that can be done to improve the overall appearance of a pharmacy. Improving standards will also lead to improved business turnover, it says.

Mr Wood said that the issue of enforcing standards, and of sticks rather than carrots, had been raised by members during recent roadshows. “We are the first pharmacy group to grasp this,” he said.

Numark paid rebates to its members of £9.67m in the year to 31 December 2002, an increase of 58 per cent on 2001. The average rebate for members is over £6,000 a year. The company made pre-tax profits of £890,000, up 243 per cent, on a turnover of £40.5m. Mr Wood said that Numark had been financially weak in the past but is now in a strong position. “We are building a brand with a consumer focus. Buying groups focused at trade level have no long-term future.”

• Business development A further six business development managers are to be appointed by Numark giving it a team of 10 with national coverage. Around 30 new members have been recruited by the team.