New owner of Harrowby Pharmacy in Grantham has ‘turned things around massively’

The owner of a new independent pharmacy has “turned things around massively”.

Muneeb Akhtar, 29, took over the former Lloyds Pharmacy in New Beacon Road around a month ago under the new name, Harrowby Pharmacy.

Originally from Sheffield, Muneeb and his wife Farha, who is also a pharmacist, moved to Grantham two months ago.

Muneeb worked as a locum pharmacist when the pharmacy was operated by Lloyds and said he “thought there was potential” in the store.

He said: “Lloyds were selling up and I thought maybe I should put a bid on the store.

“My wife is a pharmacist too so we both decided to take the plunge.

“We’re going the extra mile for patients, offering free delivery services to people in Grantham, walk-in flu jabs and just generally supporting the community with anything, even if it’s not medicine related.

“In the first few weeks I’ve been busy sorting all the business side of things out. I’m 29 years old, so everything’s been pretty new to me. I’ve never had a business before. Everything’s been a learning curve, but now everything has been set up.”

Muneeb explained that he was aware of previous complaints about the store, but believes that he has now turned things around.

He continued: “From what the current patients are saying, the service was very bad and half the time it was closed.

“I’ve been a practising pharmacist for four years and because I’ve worked in a lot of different stores up and down the country, I’ve got quite a lot of experience now.

“I’ve turned things around massively here, but unfortunately once patients have received rubbish service, they don’t come back.

“I work here full-time myself and I manage it too. There’s a big community here, but people are still going into town for their prescriptions even though there is a pharmacy here.

“A lot of people are aware. The ones that are coming into the pharmacy, we’ve had feedback from them. One said it is a million times better.”

Muneeb explained that he has also kept the existing staff on.

“If no one had bought the shop, then it would have closed,” he said. “So technically we’ve saved some jobs as well in the area and going forward, create jobs, the busier we get.”

Muneeb’s plans for the future of the store is for it to “be more like a clinic rather than a shop where people come in and get medication”.

He added: “I want people to come in to get testing done, diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, things like that. That’s my plan in the future, because I believe prevention is better than cure.”