The company which operates online pharmacy, Chemist4U has received £12m from Pitalia Capital.
Skelmdersdale-based Chemist4U is part of JCCO Healthcare, which also owns myBMI.
The funding will be used to “turbocharge” the group’s growth, with John Davies, Managing Partner of Pitalia Capital joining the board.
James O’Loan, Chief Executive Officer of both Chemist4U and myBMI, said that they hadn’t initially planned to find an investor because they were already profitable “and didn’t feel the need to rush.”
He added:
“Our plan is for Chemist4U to become one of the biggest NHS dispensing facilities in the country as well as support partners with our outsourced dispensing services which is our fastest growing division.”
Bolton-based Pitalia Capital is an equity investment company funded by Anil Pitalia, founder of SpaMedica, and specialises in healthcare and manufacturing.
Recently Chemist4U acquired a c40,000 sq ft property in Skelmersdale to centralise its operations and plans to increase its workforce from 120 to 150 within 18 months.
“We are trying to digitalise NHS, over-the-counter and private medicine provisions,” added O’Loan.
“When your doctor writes a prescription it will come to us electronically and we can automatically ship it out to you from our warehouse with next day delivery, with the whole journey tracked on the Chemist4U app.
“It means you can order and receive a prescription without leaving your home simply by using our app.”
The company also has an over-the-counter medicine platform and white labelled outsourced dispensing pharmacy service.
“James and Ricardo [Laverty COO] have done an incredible job and are a very entrepreneurial and innovative team,” stated Anil Pitalia, head of Pitalia.
“They’ve really embraced technology. To be able to get your medication delivered to your doorstep the next day without having to go to another pharmacy is hugely convenient and efficient. We see huge growth potential.
“In terms of myBMI, they are already leaders in this field and it’s an area where they see they can add a lot of value, particularly on the NHS side when trying to tackle the obesity crisis.”
