Clare Brogan has taken over Frasers Pharmacy in Newton Mearns in Glasgow, Unity Trust Bank announced today (February 1).

The young pharmacist, also from Glasgow, bought her first community pharmacy “thanks to a loan” from the bank, it said.

Ms Brogan, who qualified in 2017, renamed the pharmacy Broom Pharmacy and has created three new jobs as well as introducing a home delivery service, the bank added.

It did not disclose the amount loaned to Ms Brogan or the price the pharmacy was sold for.

It comes as supermarket pharmacies including Tesco and Asda announced a slew of potential closures.

However, a pharmacy broker told C+D last month that corporate branch disposals are “positive” as they will result in “more pharmacies coming back into the independent sector”.

 

“Young and highly-motivated”

 

Ms Brogan is training to be an independent prescriber under the Pharmacy First Plus scheme, the bank said.

It added that she plans to grow her 12-strong team, including taking on a trainee pharmacist, as she “extends the pharmacy’s services in 2023”.

Read more: Multiples offloading branches is ‘positive’, pharmacy broker says

“I gained a huge amount of experience managing two shops for my previous employers at M&D Green and was excited to set up on my own,” Ms Brogan said.

 

She added that she is “trying to help the local community and offer more services to those in need”.

 

Unity Trust Bank relationship manager Scott Hutchinson said that it “is great to see young, highly motivated pharmacists like [Ms Brogan] entering the market”.

 

 

Supporting first-time buyers

 

Mr Hutchinson also revealed that the bank “has supported a number of first-time buyers as well as established businesses”.

“Community pharmacies are vital assets to local high streets and are becoming more innovative in the services they offer,” he added.

 

Read more: High-dispensing Lincolnshire pharmacy sold in group deal

 

Ms Brogan said: “I had heard that Unity Trust Bank helped businesses that support local communities.”

 

“Scott’s communication and timely advice assisted in keeping all parties involved in the lead up to successfully finalising the deal on time.

 

“I’m delighted to work with Unity as their values are very similar to mine,” she said.

 

Read more: Kensington pharmacy sold to small independent multiple-operator

 

Ms Brogan’s “passion for business was inspired by her parents Maureen and Tony”, who run a Glasgow wholesale fruit and veg company that has been in the family since 1946, Unity Trust Bank said.

 

“I realise I am hugely fortunate to have received the support from my parents and I could not have achieved this without their knowledge and guidance,” Ms Brogan added.

 

Read more: First time buyers bag two West Cumbria pharmacies for undisclosed price

 

She said that “while going into the family business was not for me, running a pharmacy is similar in many aspects”.

 

Both “[aim] to provide a quality service to meet the needs of the patients [and deal] with the many daily challenges and issues, along with the general financial dynamics”, she added.