Ian Shackleton runs a family business in Abergavenny, Shackleton’s Pharmacy, which was founded in 1873 and plays a crucial role in serving the local community to this day. Ian explained that some of the issues he had encountered before Numark were largely based around the age of the dispensary and the systems he had in place.  

“The refit has made our dispensary a much better place for us all to work”

“The problem with our set-up was that we had not invested in it in a long time and it didn’t allow us to operate at the pace we needed to in order to deliver the services we were offering. We were looking to streamline our processes because in our view it is important that we continue to deliver those services, and as a result of the refit we were able to tailor our layout and figure out the best setup functionality wise to operate.”

Part of Ian’s vision for the pharmacy was to improve workflow and efficiency and enhance the working environment for the local team. Numark advised on the optimal workflow for Golden Tote at the planning stage, alongside reviewing standard operational workflow and processes within the dispensary. Following on from the refit, Ian took the decision to move PMR providers and subsequently had Golden Tote installed to maximize the efficiency of assembly and allow for staff remodelling.

Community pharmacists play a crucial role in supporting customers from the local area, and such an important role can inevitably create a lot of pressure on staff. Shackleton’s Pharmacy are no exception to this, however Ian is keen to point out that Numark has been extremely helpful in lightening the load and removing some of the strain from his workforce through the implementation of Golden Tote.

“It has significantly reduced the stress levels of my staff. As a result of COVID in particular, our team often found themselves worn out and quite overstretched, but they were really pleased with how Golden Tote, amongst all the other changes Numark brought about, has helped them out and it has drastically improved their day to day working lives”.

Numark reduced stock levels by 18%

Ian suggested that the initial motivation for looking into the support of Numark was to reduce stock levels by 18%, but as time has moved along on he has noticed a whole host of other benefits which have helped him and his team to achieve their service growth ambitions.

“The shop has also had a complete revamp.  We’ve had air conditioning put in, improved disabled access, and all of the changes have resulted in the staff having a lot to manage on top of their day to day workloads. However the Numark team have made this process as smooth as possible and created a vast amount space for us in the shop. The refit has made our dispensary a much better place for us all to work.”

Ian also discussed the impact that the Numark refit has had on the team’s ability to maximise their potential and work towards their goals.

“The refit has not only made the pharmacy look much better aesthetically but it has freed up a significant amount of staff time because our dispensing processes are much more streamlined and the turnaround on the entire process has been extremely quick”.

Ian’s business partner and brother, Geoff, also provided details of the technical improvements that they have noticed within the pharmacy as a result of Numark's intervention.

“It has certainly been a much calmer place to work since we started using Golden Tote. I’ve had a lot more time to engage with customers and focus on the extra services we provide, and it has surpassed all my expectations in terms of how much it reduces pressure. When fully staffed we typically have around 1,200 items a day to dispense and with the Golden Tote  we are able to manage this much more efficiently to allow us to spend more time with customers - and providing our additional services, because the refit was dealt with for us.”

As part of the support provided through Numark, the Numark OTC team worked with Shackleton’s Pharmacy to conduct an overhaul of the retail area, looking at demographics to create a more efficient product range and re-merchandising the store as a whole.

Geoff continued, “The remerchandising of the branch has been an enormous help and has significantly improved our retail sales. It has been a lot of change all in one go, and when you put that sort of effort in you want to see results, so we were pleased to have been able to utilise the changes to their full capacity from an early stage”.

Ian ended by speaking in glowing terms about how much he would recommend Numark to other pharmacies. “I would definitely recommend Numark. I have been extremely encouraged, particularly given the fact that our staff have had to get to grips with a new system, and the cost savings in terms of physical resources have been obvious from minute one.”