Creating an
Overnight Merger Concept

Sanjay is a renowned build-and-buy pharmacy owner. Already, at 40 years old, he has become a key Director of a group of 47 pharmacies across the UK. Together with his partners he seeks out key sites and formulates a strategy to enhance their profitability, all within a short time frame. Sanjay is a key believer in the Alitam ‘Pharmacy of the Future’ model and works tirelessly with the executive management team to lead Alitam’s 200+ pharmacies to even greater things.

Says Sanjay, “The Alitam executive management team is exceptional. I’m proud of my own pharmacy group of course, but in awe of my fellow board directors’ achievements. The line-up is strong on paper, but the real strength is in the way we work collectively, leaving our egos at the door, and capitalising on each other’s talents. I’m honoured to be part of this innovative movement, and I’m a firm believer in the overnight merger model; a strategic model which has never been seen before.”

At the helm is Sir Kenneth Olisa, whose peerless experience and expertise is an enormous boost to the board. Known as the Queen’s ‘right hand man’, Sir Ken Olisa (OBE) acts as Alitam Group chairman outside his role as London’s Lord Lieutenant, where he manages the Royal Family’s duties. Formerly on Reuter’s FTSE100 executive board, and now a non-exec Huawei board member, Sir Ken Olisa is passionate about the group’s vision and the expanding role of pharmacy following Covid-19.

Sir Ken Olisa says “I have been involved in public markets for a long time and with AIM since its birth in 1995. The exchange’s founding concept was to provide access to capital for early-stage entrepreneurial, companies with the potential to move up to the main market at some point.

My immediate thought when I met Feisal was that his vision for Alitam hit AIM’s bullseye! As you can imagine, I receive a lot of approaches but the Feisal/Alitam combination stands out. The business plan absolutely resonates with the times – trusted professionals providing health and well-being assistance is good news for patients/customers and a company driven by 50+ proven entrepreneurs – rather than hired managers – combining their strengths for common advantage is very good news for investors.

As Alitam Chairman, I am committed to delivering the Pharmacy of the Future. I am proud to work with so many consummate businesspeople united in their determination to unleash the potential contained within the collective fruits of their many years experience. Feisal’s Alitam business model is made for AIM and AIM is made for Alitam.”

Newest appointment, CFO Simon Newton, bolsters the team with his formidable experience of founding and floating a nationwide company, extensive financial services expertise and a collaborative, delivery-focused approach. He also has a strong track record of independence of judgement. Simon will work with Arnold Wylie, non-exec board member and former FD, and a full finance team to implement revolutionary financial systems and processes.

Says Simon, “Having founded and floated a company, it was clear to me that Alitam is poised to become a leading FTSE company. They’ve already achieved so much through the integration of over 200 pharmacy stores, pooling their considerable resources and harnessing the latest technology. And, having so many great minds working towards a single, shared vision is a rare thing and incredibly impressive. The Overnight Multiple Merger Model (OMMM) is fast becoming a proven method of synergising successful businesses and skilled equity directors overnight.

The scale by which we operate is already driving life-changing innovations. I’m proud to be part of Alitam’s endeavour to enhance the role of the pharmacist, make a real difference to local communities and reduce the burden on the NHS.”

The founder and creator of the leading Irish owned online pharmacy, Oonagh O’Hagan is a senior executive on the Board of Directors, responsible for the implementation of group strategy across all Ireland pharmacies within the membership.

Oonagh is also instrumental in forming the group 5-year strategy, group mandate and ensuring all pharmacies are working towards the shared vision of ‘Pharmacy of the Future’.

She is a qualified pharmacist and the owner and Managing Director of the Meagher’s Pharmacy Group, a group of nine physical pharmacies in Dublin together with the mostsuccessful Irish owned pharmacy website.

“Alitam is already breaking new ground. As someone who is passionate about pharmacy and retail, and always on the lookout for the next trend in healthcare and beauty, I’m honoured to be part of this exceptional team, and what we’re creating collectively,” says Oonagh.

Dhruv has achieved more in the last few years than many do in a lifetime. He has previously worked at Slaughter and May, Barclays Capital and currently has business interests in community pharmacy and property investment and development, as well as being a ‘Name’ at the Lloyds of London insurance market. He is a Chartered Building Engineer and a Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. He was a Governor of East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) from 2014 to 2017 during a time in which they achieved an Outstanding rating from the CQC. He is currently a Member of the Clothworkers Livery Company and sits on their Property Committee (circa £300m in real estate assets). Dhruv is widely tipped to be a leading political figure in the near future.

“Alitam has an incredibly compelling business proposition. I have been inspired by Feisal’s energy and his extraordinary ability to create a merger quite literally overnight. Alitam offers a phenomenal opportunity to help all our Alitam pharmacies grow and develop. I’ve followed the Alitam movement right from the beginning, and I’m highly impressed with the membership of the board. I’m delighted to be part of this team, alongside such great minds, abilities and records.”

An industry giant, Michael is CEO and main shareholder of Medicare, a pharmacy group consisting of 53 pharmacies in Northern Ireland, making it the largest indigenous pharmacy group in Ireland. He is treasurer of the National Pharmaceutical Association, and has played an influential role within community pharmacy and in all the major pharmacy professional bodies that negotiate the future direction and role for pharmacy in Northern Ireland.

Michael is celebrated among peers for his vast knowledge, experience, expertise and operational ability.

Patrick came to Feisal’s attention as one of the most experienced heads of pharmacy in Ireland, having 10 years
experience in running the Sam McCauley Group. During Patrick’s tenure, the group became the largest pharmacy group in Ireland, with 30 stores and almost 600 staff, and a successful online trading platform. Patrick has demonstrated formidable leadership abilities, not just within the Sam McCauley group, but also within the wider retail industry, as a board member with Retail Excellence Ireland.

His remit is to improve both corporate credibility and corporate governance standards. He plays a vital role in the overall group risk management strategy in both the UK and Ireland territories.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to be involved in taking a large group of very successful pharmacies and making them even better . Alitam presents amazing opportunities which I didn’t think could be realised until now despite my extensive experience in the retail pharmacy business. I’m thrilled to be joining this multi-talented team; we’re all united in believing that this is an opportunity we couldn’t turn down.”

At just 39 years of age, Mitul is one of the youngest members of the executive board. He purchased his first pharmacy in 2012 and has made regular shrewd acquisitions. He is now a stakeholder in over 40 businesses along with his various partners. His specialism includes a build and buy strategy, specifically purchasing distressed pharmacies and then running a 40+ point plan to turn them around within just 3-6 months. Mitul has been heavily guided by his father Harshad who himself has proven to be a successful entrepreneur over the years. Mitul first worked in his father’s pharmacy stores after school and weekends at just 16 years of age.

Mitul was most attracted to Alitam from the potential of collaborative thinking between like-minded entrepreneurs. Mitul is very motivated to learn from others whilst also keen on helping others to grow their pharmacies at an exceptional rate that he himself has realised.

Mitul says, “I see Alitam as a ground-breaking movement. My fellow board members are all high-class, skilled and experienced individuals who have been very successful throughout their lives. If we bring their work ethic, integrity and ambition together, Alitam will be an unstoppable force.”

Arnold’s world class accountancy knowledge and ability have steered Alitam from day one. He was there at the genesis, helping design the financial model which showed the tremendous growth opportunity available within five years. It’s these plans, together with the overall operational strategy, which unite everyone in the belief that Alitam can become a FTSE 100 company.

Based in Northern Ireland, Arnold was the original Financial Director of Alitam and will work together with CFO Simon Newton, acting as a non-exec board member.

“Alitam is fast evolving into the ground-breaking company Feisal and I always knew it would become. And now, with such a jaw-dropping array of talent on board, we are totally convinced that our goals are well within sight. It’s an honour to continue to play my part.”

Prakash has a formidable reputation among pharmacists. He was targeted by the founder of Alitam because of his tireless activity on various industry boards; his 37 years experience of community pharmacy; and his advocacy for support for pharmacies in the face of regulatory change.

Prakash assists Alitam in reducing costs, increasing its economies of scale, and facilitating expansion across the UK.

Unsurprisingly, Prakash and his businesses have won several community pharmacy awards, including ‘Best Pharmacy Chain’ and ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ (Pharmacy Business awards) in successive years.

Says Prakash, “I’ve had a long career and won many pharmacy awards. But I am extremely proud to be embarking on this adventure, as my working life nears an end. Only Alitam offer the futuristic model which guarantees success for years to come. This is the dream for my family business, as I prepare to hand it over to my children to run in years to come.”

Joe is a highly reputable lawyer who has completed many transactions within the pharmacy industry, helping leading pharmacies to both sell, and acquire, businesses.

He steers Alitam Group’s legal affairs. And, with Alitam’s strategy of ongoing yearly acquisition, brings particular expertise to the due diligence process. Ensuring there’s a good fit between the current Alitam group and each new entrant.

Joe was the Irish panel lawyer who helped put together a miracle 122 company ‘overnight’ merger. He is a bedrock of support for the founder, the board and Alitam in general throughout the entire consolidation process. And he is masterfully supporting each of the 200 pharmacies entering the group.

“I see first hand how Feisal’s astonishing energy and vision has brought together a ‘board of all the talents.’ It’s inspiring to play a key role, and help the dream of the ‘Pharmacy of the Future’ become a reality.”

Simon Newton

Chief Financial Officer

coming soon!

Arnold Wylie

Alitam Group Non Executive

Dhruv Patel OBE

Deputy Chairman

Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE

Chairman

Alitam Group is delighted to announce Sir Kenneth Olisa as Chairman. He forms part of the management team building the ‘Pharmacy of the future’ concept.

Ken is Founder and Chairman of Restoration Partners, the boutique technology merchant bank and architects of Inogesis formerly known as The Virtual Technology Cluster model. Ken’s technology career spans over 30 years commencing with IBM from whom he won a scholarship while at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge. In 1992, after twelve years as a senior executive at Wang Labs in the US and Europe, Ken founded Interregnum, the technology merchant bank. He was elected as a Fellow of the British Computer Society in 2006.

He is currently Chairman of Interswitch (Africa’s largest e-payments company). He is a former Director of Thomson Reuters, a former deputy Chair at the Institute of directors and Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) where he coined the famous epigram “More Soviet than City” to describe the manner of his departure.

Ken is a Freeman of the City of London, Liveryman and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Patron of Thames Reach (for which he received an OBE in 2010), and Chairman of charity Shaw Trust. He was an original member of the Postal Services Commission (PostComm) and the Independent Parliamentary Standard Authority (IPSA) and is the Founder and Chairman of the Aleto Foundation. He is a past Sunday Times Not for Profit Non-Executive Director of the year and was named Number 1 in the 2016 Powerlist’s roster of the UK’s most influential black people. In 2013 Ken and his wife, Julia, endowed the Olisa Library at his alma mater Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. In 2015, Her Majesty the Queen appointed Ken as Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Greater London and he was knighted in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List for services to business and philanthropy.

In September 2018 Ken was appointed as the director on the board of Huawei a Chinese multinational networking, telecommunications equipment and Services Company. Sir Kenneth is President of London Youth, a member network of 450+ community youth organisations working across London, supporting tens of thousands of young Londoners each year through their sports, arts, employment and social action programmes and outdoor learning at their residential centres in East Sussex and Buckinghamshire.

Dr Ravi Ganatra

North London Operational Director

Dr Ravi Ganatra BDS (Lond) MFDS RCS (Eng) MJDF Ravi qualified as a Dental Surgeon in 2007 and achieved membership of the Royal College of Surgeons just one year later in 2008.

Ravi became a director of Ravika Ltd in 2014 and now has many years experience of the business side of community pharmacy. He also has significant experience of the operational side of dental practices so has a unique view of the role of Community Pharmacy in the wider healthcare environment which he believes is key to the Pharmacy of the Future concept.

He also has many years of regulatory experience as a member of the Fitness to Practise Panel at the General Dental Council for over 7 years, a position which gives him an insight into the regulation of healthcare professions. He is proud to have assisted many dental practitioners through regulatory proceedings with his experience of the process.

He is passionate about the Pharmacy of the Future concept that Alitam embodies and is honoured to be a part of the team responsible for seeing the vision come to fruition, for the benefit of patients, customers and pharmacy businesses.

Prashant Patel

Head of UK Operational Board

Prashant Patel graduated from Leicester School of Pharmacy with a BPharm degree in 1979 and is the Founder and Managing Director of Clockwork Pharmacy Group which he has grown from scratch, with its first branch in Victoria Park Hackney in 1985, to 11 branches currently.

He is a results-orientated leader; driven to innovation, diversification and calculated risk and at the same time to manage costs and establish strategic, mutually beneficial partnerships and relationships with users, vendors, and service providers. He is adept at creating strategic alliances to expand market share and profitability, and excels at building and retaining high performance teams by hiring, developing, and motivating skilled professionals.

Under his direction Clockwork Pharmacy Group trail blazed and set up the framework for the following innovative services which are now available in many Pharmacies in the United Kingdom:

• First Pharmacy to create and introduce GP consultations in person or by phone or internet within Pharmacy.
• First ever Pharmacy to ensure that all Pharmacists would be legally eligible to vaccinate and inject.
• First ever Pharmacy to create and provide vaccination services to include all vaccinations.
• First ever Pharmacy to create and provide Yellow Fever Vaccinations and certification
• First ever Pharmacy to offer peace of mind and legal DNA paternity and all other relationship testing.
• First ever independent pharmacy to be registered with the care quality commission.

He has also led the expansion and diversification of Clockwork Group into an award winning real estate developer and investor.
Prashant is very passionate about building the pharmacy of the future and joins a very strong and compelling team in designing the future of Pharmacy.

Sukhjit Singh Gill

Midlands Operational Director

Although pharmacy was in his blood, Sukhjit began his career as a solicitor at a highly prestigious London firm, practicing within a department consistently rated in the top five globally. Clients included leading public figures and international corporations. Often working on ground-breaking cases Sukhjit was able to enhance the reputation of the firm by setting new legal precedents and consistently delivering excellence for clients.

With an entrepreneurial spirt burning brightly Sukhjit left the legal profession and now works as a healthcare business development consultant. Drawing on his in-depth knowledge of how a pharmacy operates; gained from growing up on the shop-floor as the son of an independent pharmacist; combined with his business acumen and legal network has positioned him as a leading advisor in the Midlands.

Amongst other projects Sukhjit has consulted on the design and build of multi-million pound health centres, relocation of large GP surgeries into combined pharmacy/GP purpose-built buildings, and introducing efficiencies within pharmacy practice to increase net profit beyond clients’ expectations.

Charity also plays an important role in Sukhjit’s life and he was proud to be a founding member of Apnee Sehat, a charity which purports to improve the awareness of diabetes in the South Asian community. The organisation is multi-award winning and is supported by The Prince’s Trust. Sukhjit is also an active member of the South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust.

The Alitam project is one that excites Sukhjit greatly and synchronises with his belief that through modernisation and consolidation of independent pharmacies will emerge the ‘pharmacy of the future’.

Michael Guerin

Alitam Group Non Executive

Michael is a leader in the industry. He attends Alitam Board meetings as a key advisor and influence on ongoing policy and strategy. Michael is passionate in supporting the build of a revolutionary ‘pharmacy of the future concept’. He is known amongst his peers for his vast knowledge, experience, expertise and operational ability.

He is currently the CEO and main shareholder of Medicare, a pharmacy group consisting of 53 pharmacies in Northern Ireland.

He obtained a BSc (Hons) Pharmacy Degree from Brighton School of Pharmacy in 1986 and then registered with the Pharmaceutical Society of N.Ireland in 1987. He acquired his first pharmacy in Shatesbury Square Belfast in 1988, and is the founder of the MediCare Pharmacy Group with over 32 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry, growing the group to 53 pharmacies.

He has a leading and influential role within community pharmacy and in all the major pharmacy professional bodies that negotiate the future direction and role for pharmacy in N.Ireland. He is also a member and past Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Contractors Committee in N. Ireland (now CPNI) and also past Chairman of the EHSSB Area Pharmaceutical Committee, as well as being a past member of the Professional Advisory Panel to GlaxoSmithKline PLC and member of Pharmaceutical Standards working group. Michael is also a Director on the Board of the National Pharmaceutical Association (NPA).

In his spare time, Michael also sits on the board of Governors of a local primary school and is a Trustee of a Belfast-based charity dealing with Drug and Alcohol problems.

Oonagh O’Hagan

Head of Ireland

Patrick McCormack

Senior Independent Director

Joe McVeigh

Head of Legal

Prakash Patel

Head of UK Pharmacy

Mukesh Pandit, FCCA

Group Director

Bolaji Oladuji

London Operational Director

Bolaji is an Alitam Operational Director and part of a large team responsible in areas such as process evaluation and process improvement.

Bolaji has over 25 years of experience, having overseen the development of 7 community pharmacies across south London. She has been responsible for both the planning and the execution of the strategic direction of Millennium Pharmacy. She has also taken lead of the Post Office and Human Resources divisions of the company in addition to having been a prescribing pharmacist. She is currently the PCN lead pharmacist for the Fiveways Primary Care Network.

Bolaji also has previous managerial experience at Boots and holds a BPharm (Hons).

Abdool Kureeman

Southern Counties Operational Director

Abdool was the first appointed Alitam Operational Director and part of a large team responsible for the Group in meeting its strategic targets across the UK region. The team is responsible in evaluating how Alitam can constantly improve its working practices across all its pharmacies.

Abdool qualified as a pharmacist in 1985. He was branch manager for a small multiple before purchasing his first pharmacy in Ewell. He later took over Buckley Pharmacy in Ashtead where he now has 2 branches. He has won awards such as C&D Platinum design Award and Alphega Community Pharmacist Award.

Abdool is a pre-registration tutor. He served on Surrey LPC for 10 years, including Vice Chairman. He firmly believes that community pharmacies can gain a bigger share of the over-counter trade by identifying new innovative health care products and services to better meet current customer needs.

Dinesh Ganatra

East Operational Director

Dinesh is an Alitam Operational Director and part of a large team responsible for the Group in meeting its strategic targets across the UK region. The team is responsible in evaluating how Alitam can constantly improve its working practices across all its pharmacies.

Having run multiple pharmacy groups of his own with turnover in excess of £25m, Dinesh has over 40 years experience of community pharmacy & multisite operations. His expertise includes cost control, people management, training  & business development, as well as successfully spearheading multiple acquisitions with a buy and build policy.

He holds a keen interest in global financial matters and ancient history, having been established as a financial  markets trader for over 30 years.

Mark Walker

North West Operational Directors

Nick Thorne

Wales Operational Director

Nick is an Alitam Operational Director and part of a large team responsible for the Group in meeting its strategic targets across the UK region. Nick focuses more specifically on our operation in Wales and Evaluates how we can constantly improve our working practices amongst the local pharmacies in that region.

Nick began his career in community pharmacy in 1996, working as a frontline pharmacist in both independent and chain outlets for 11 years. Nick has since built his own small chain of pharmacies in South Wales. Nick’s broad range of experience at the coalface and as a Director and superintendent at Thornes Pharmacy Ltd enables him to offer a wealth of knowledge at both a strategic and practical level.

Peter Weedle

Ireland Operational Director

James O’Callaghan

Ireland Operational Director

David McNally

Ireland Operational Director

Patrick Durkin

Ireland Operational Director

Patrick is an Alitam Operational Director for the Ireland region and is responsible for the Group in meeting its strategic targets. The team is responsible in evaluating how Alitam can constantly improve its working practices across all its pharmacies, including the use of latest technology and new product and service lines.

For over 40 years, Patrick has been active in developing the Community Pharmacy as a byword for excellence in healthcare and customer service. As GM of McSweeny group Patrick co-developed Ireland’s first pan-European community pharmacy group, successfully integrating over 40 pre-established Irish pharmacies into a corporate structure. An adamant supporter of the advantages and importance of the independent community pharmacy, Patrick specialised in restructuring businesses to maximise operational efficiency and internal organisation to ensure utmost customer satisfaction and bottom line performance. The success of this model represented the benefits of combining the commercial capability of corporate pharmacy with the personalistion of service and customer loyalty of the independent community pharmacy.

Patrick continues to push the parameters and possibilities of community pharmacy and since 2014 has been independently developing the para-pharmacy model in Ireland.

In the face of the rise of online shopping and direct-to-customer sales, Patrick strives to reduce dependence on mass-market product by product specialisation and individualised customer-focused service.

Mark Ledwidge

Operational Director

Mark is one of the founding pharmacists in the Alitam Group based in Ireland and is committed to developing pharmacy of the future with his Alitam colleagues.

He holds a PhD in pharmaceutics and has extensive experience in the healthcare industry having worked with Servier Laboratories and as Co-founder/Director of Solvotrin Therapeutics, Lifelab Therapeutics and the Heartbeat Trust. He is a former member of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society in Ireland and previously served on the Expert Advisory Group of the Human Medicines division of the Health Protection Regulatory Authority.

Mark holds honorary positions as Research Professor in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin and UCD Professor in the School of Medicine in University College, Dublin. He is Co-Principal Investigator of the Genuity Science Heart Failure programme, the largest whole genome sequencing project in heart failure to date. He is also Co-Principal Investigator of the St Vincent’s Screening TO Prevent Heart Failure (STOP-HF) programme. STOP-HF won a Royal College of General Practitioners Award in 2015 and is part of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Guidelines on heart failure since 2017.