Although a start had been made, the real beginning of UniChem as a pharmaceutical buying group can be said to have dated from January 1940.
During the first three months of the year, significant progress was made. An order office complete with telephone line, had been set up and furniture purchased. A contract to supply surgical dressings had been agreed with Britton, Malcolm Ltd, and deliveries of such goods had commenced. Unfortunately, the chairman of the original committee, A. Robertson, had resigned that position due to pressure of war work, but he remained a shareholder. As the company was operating as a friendly society, controlled by the same legislation as Building Societies, the shareholders were referred to as “members”.
A gradual increase in such “membership” had occurred and a date of April 24th was set for the inaugural Annual General Meeting, to be held at the Charing Cross Hotel.
40 of the 90 current shareholders attended the meeting and elected a seven-strong Board of Directors. They were D.A.Rees (SW9), who was elected chairman, J.Young (N5), F.Cherry (Walton-on-Thames), C.Foster (SE22), E.Skues (SW17), A.Robertson (Reading), & A.R.Cross (Enfield). From this list it can be seen that recruiting had been carried out throughout London and the Home counties.
At this AGM it was announced that, due to the set-up costs of the company, a small loss (£20) had been incurred during 1939. A modest sales target was set for 1940, and it was clear that a real start had been made.
Spicer & Pegler were appointed as UniChem’s auditors, and that name will reappear many times in the company’s later history.
During the rest of 1940, although the war news grew ever more bleak, the company’s trading position was successfully consolidated.
By the end of the year, there were well over 120 pharmacies in membership, which included the recruitment of the Moss shops.
An Organising Secretary, Jim Walmsley, was appointed. He was a pharmacist from Bolton, who had sold his own business in order to take up the position.
Two new over-the-counter medicines, Anti-Pain tablets & Duo-Gestan lozenges, were to be added to the range.
Britton Malcolm Ltd had decided to resign the contract for surgical dressings in favour of Arthur Bertie Ltd of EC1. The newly-registered brand name “Valkem” was also to make its initial appearance, affixed to a range of packed official formula tablets, such as Aspirin BP, supplied by Cox of Brighton,.
The company even launched a newsletter for its members, with the first issue being sent out on November 21st 1940.
The second company Annual General Meeting was set for the 28th May 1941, at the Russell Hotel. Unfortunately, because of wartime travel restrictions, only 24 members were able to attend, out of the total, which had grown to 150.
At this meeting It was announced that, due mainly to wartime stock shortages, the company’s turnover had just failed to reach target, but was still healthy at nearly £19,000. A profit of £213 was declared, but there appears to be no record of whether any rebate distribution was made at this time.
So it can be seen that, within a year of the commencement of trading, in a time of great national emergency, the company had made a sound start. Within its own area of trading, it was becoming a force to be reckoned with, and there was obviously significant potential for expansion.
The remaining three and a half years of the wartime period, from 1942 until 1945, and even the first couple of the peacetime “austerity” years, tell of an ongoing struggle against severe supply difficulties.
Although it was relatively easy to sell whatever stock was available, there were many times when it was impossible to meet customer orders, and the maintenance of goodwill became very difficult. However, throughout this period some real progress was made.
By 1942, annual turnover had doubled to £40,000, and membership was up to 165. In this context, it is interesting to note that the Board were already referring in the Minutes, to a target figure of 2,500 members, with national coverage. Unfortunately, this target was not to be achieved until the 1970’s.
At the Annual General Meeting held at the Waldorf Hotel in April 1943, membership was quoted as 250, but no figures for turnover or profit for this period have survived.
By November 1943, the Board had begun to plan for the post-war period. They began by considering the setting up of the company’s own warehouse and van delivery network. This was not fast enough for Ernest Skues. Always the visionary, he was pressing hard for an instant decision and action. As early as the following February, he had personally found a suitable site in Broadwater Road, Tooting, in South-West London.
In order to finance the purchase, shareholders were all offered new preference shares in the company. In the event, the issue was greatly oversubscribed, and disappointment was caused among those who were not among the recipients. Happily, this was successfully addressed at a later date. As soon as the required finance was in place, the new warehouse was purchased in April 1944, despite the fact that the property was not going to be vacant until March 1945.
This foresight was to serve the company very well, and the fully fitted warehouse was ready to be declared operational, just as the war in Europe ended. This facility was to remain the backbone of all UniChem’s operations, until 1962.