Lloyds Pharmacy in Crown Mead and Burdwood Centre, Thatcham both taken over by independents
Both Lloyds Pharmacy branches in Thatcham have been taken over by independents.
The Lloyds in Crown Mead has become Halo Pharmacy, while the branch at the Burdwood Centre now goes by the name of Thatcham Pharmacy.
Both have been taken on by pharmacists who have worked in multiple areas in the industry, at different levels and at different businesses.
Reading man and former Lloyds Thatcham employee Philip Obomighe, 50, has gone full circle and returned to his former place of work as an independent owner at Crown Mead.
He planned to take over the branch last year and says he remembers the branch’s temporary closures and staff shortages causing upset among the local community.
The father-of-two said the first thing he did when taking over was meet with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) who told him how much they want to see an improvement in the pharmacy service in Thatcham.
This is the second pharmacy he has taken on and he said he cannot wait to bring the success of his three-year-old pharmacy in Coventry to West Berkshire.
Taking on the Burdwood Centre pharmacy are business partners Nishaan Sanjay Amin, 31, and Guillermo Marin Saborido, 36.
They are signing a contract tomorrow (Friday) to seal the deal and are due to officially open on October 27.
The pair – who are both fathers-of-two – worked as locum pharmacists and wanted a new challenge.
Mr Saborido practised medicine in Spain and Italy prior to moving to England 11-years-ago.
Lloyds announced it was shutting 237 pharmacy sites within Sainsbury’s supermarkets earlier this year.
Mr Saborido said with the closure of big companies like Lloyds, this is the right time for independents to take control and support the community in a more patient-focused way, rather than commercial.
His business partner Nishaan Sanjay Amin – who he describes as a wonderful businessman and an even better person – has already begun building a chain of pharmacies starting in Gosport.
