Getting to know the uniquely talented Sukhjit Singh Gill.
Healthcare business consultant Sukhjit Singh Gill is a hybrid genius. With pharmacy in his blood (as the son of an independent pharmacist), he pursued a career at a top 5 London law firm before his entrepreneurial spirit triumphed. Today he heads a successful healthcare business consultancy, while overseeing the leading-edge Friar Park Pharmacy in Wednesbury. As Operations Director for the West Midlands, Sukhjit brings to Alitam inside knowledge of the pharmacy sector, a breathtaking vision for its future and the know-how to make it a reality.
Pharmacies on the front line of prevention
Look no further than Sukhjit’s thriving pharmacy for evidence of his flair. This highly profitable business is blazing a trail with empowering customer technology; offering 24/7 prescription ordering via smartphone, tablet or PC. The e-commerce arm of the pharmacy boasts a busy online shop, selling almost every OTC medication you can think of, together with a wide variety of vitamins and wellness brands. The services available to customers are built around their overall well-being, aiming to reduce GP and hospital visits and avoid serious health issues developing. “Instore there’s help to stop smoking, lose weight and follow a healthy lifestyle,” says Sukhjit. “That’s together with other support such as our Inhaler Technique Service and blood pressure monitoring. But this is just the beginning. Pharmacies will play an invaluable role on the front line of prevention, saving our NHS millions each year.”
Bringing pharmacy forward
Sukhjit’s boundless enthusiasm for the ‘Pharmacy of the Future’ is perceptible. “I’ve known for some time that modernisation and consolidation are the way forward,” he says. “With all my experience in the design and build of multi-million pound health centres, merging the GP and pharmacy offering in one building, and introducing efficiencies within pharmacy practice, I could see enormous potential. Sometimes the healthcare sector feels like a giant behemoth, where even simple things can’t be done. But when you know what pharmacies are uniquely placed to do – serve their communities with all manner of advice, tests and interventions from a trusted source – you can’t help but feel passionately about doing things differently. It’s the driving force of mine. To bring pharmacy forward for decades to come by combining NextGen tech with outstanding customer service. By looking at the whole person who walks through the door, not just focusing on the ailment. No-one else is doing this. And then along comes Alitam, with the might of highly decorated entrepreneurs, brilliant pharmacists and strategists and suddenly, we’re making it happen.”
Nimble, yet powerful
Alitam was uniquely attractive to Sukhjit, allowing him to be part of a movement, not just a business. “Pharmacists have always hidden their light under a bushel, but with one, united voice through Alitam we say, ‘no more!’” Sukhjit continues, “each member pharmacy has been handpicked; we’re all profitable with strong customer loyalty and community connections. There are no underperforming businesses which need to be weeded out. We bring our different strengths to the group table and we’re stronger as a result. Crucially, unlike the large corporations weighed down with bureaucracy and complex chains of command, we are nimble; we can react to the incredibly fast pace of the market. And the pandemic is proving beyond a doubt just how crucial it is to quickly respond to market conditions, and larger world events.”
Here for generations to come
“From day one I was struck by the unique capabilities Sukhjit effortlessly displays,” says Alitam Founder, Feisal Nahaboo. “His entrepreneurial spirit and fervent belief in the future of healthcare are remarkable in their own right. Add to this his intimate working knowledge of pharmacies and the business issues they face, plus his brilliant legal brain, and you have one of a kind. Sukhjit is a highly prized member of the nonexec management team.”
Sukhjit smiles, “This is what we’ve all been waiting for, the chance to unleash the potential of pharmacies. We are here for the long term; building future-focused businesses which will live on, at the heart of our communities, for generations to come.”
