In 2006, following the agreed merger of Alliance-UniChem PLC with Boots PLC, the decision was taken to name the resulting company “Alliance-Boots PLC”. As a result of this, the name of “UniChem” almost disappeared from public sight, being retained only for the action of delivering goods to retail pharmacies & hospital dispensaries.
Although no longer directly involved, I felt this to be a very sad moment. To any outsider, it must seem the end of this company’s remarkable rise, from obscurity at its birth in 1938 to national prominence as a member of the FTSE 100, in 2006. This sad feeling was to result in my making this attempt to chart the rise.
My initial involvement with UniChem had come about in late 1970. At the time, I was managing a pharmacy in Mitcham, Surrey. We had been receiving very unreliable service from one of the two wholesalers serving our dispensing needs, and I decided to open an account with UniChem Ltd. The nearest of their warehouses was at Kingston, in Surrey, and the service that they provided for our prescription needs proved to be excellent.
A few months later I received a phone call from Peter Dodd, who had been a pupil at Battersea Grammar School at the same time as I, and who was a fellow member of the Old Grammarians Football Club.
He informed me that he had recently been appointed Managing Director of UniChem, and would like me to join him for lunch at the Crown Hotel, in Morden, Surrey. He wished to discuss with me what constituted an ideal service that a retail pharmacy would expect to get from its wholesaler.
We had a very pleasant lunch, followed by a long conversation about various aspects of the pharmaceutical world, and for a while, that was that.
By January 1972, the time had arrived when I was ready to buy a pharmacy of my own. It occurred to me to offer my services to UniChem in some capacity or other. This employment would afford me the chance to look at a number of chemists shops, in order to have a better selection of potential targets for my purchase.
Despite this somewhat unorthodox approach, Peter Dodd agreed to see me, and it was decided that I would be hired for six months, as a travelling ambassador, visiting both existing accounts and potential customers. He pointed out that my business card would show that I was a qualified pharmacist ; and that this would ensure that pharmacy owners who were not currently customers of UniChem would at least see me, whereas they would often refuse to grant an interview to UniChem’s traditional representatives.
In the event, the arrangement proved to be mutually successful, to both UniChem and myself. From UniChem’s point of view, a gratifying number of new accounts were opened, and I found a suitable pharmacy to acquire, at Purley, in Surrey. However before this purchase could be completed, Peter Dodd contacted me and asked me to delay it. He wished me to help the company out, by taking over as a temporary replacement for their Purchasing Manager, Michael Worby, who had resigned unexpectedly.
In the event this arrangement suited me very well and, as a result, I continued to work for UniChem in a variety of marketing roles, from 1972 until retiring in May, 1994.
Note : In writing this historical account, it has been more than a little difficult for me to be impartial, especially when describing events in which I was personally involved. If any readers are upset in any way by my account, then I ask them to accept my sincere apology. Every effort has been made to achieve 100% objectivity.
William Hart, M.R.Pharm.S (retd.)
Kenilworth, Dec 2012