Pharmacy2U to create up to 150 jobs in the next two years

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Mark Livingstone said he wanted to attract the highest caliber of staff to the company, which currently has 350 employees, after relocating to Thorpe Park in Leeds.

The business was previously based in 6,000 sq ft of office space, 10 minutes away in Seacroft. It now has 16,000 sq ft of offices and room to grow within the building.

Mr Livingstone said: “Whether or not the jobs will all be in Leeds it’s too early to say but we moved to Thorpe Park because we wanted further room to grow.

“We had completely run out of space in our old building and now we have real flexibility.”

Pharmacy2U delivers repeat NHS prescriptions to patients across the UK and is believed to be the largest distance dispenser in the country.

It has over 300,000 customers and is growing by over 20,000 customers a month, currently making it the same size as 100 pharmacies, Mr Livingstone said.

The company has an automated dispensing hub in Leeds, which is capable of dispensing one million prescription items a month, and plans to open another in Leicester this year.

It uses a combination of the latest robotic and logistics technologies - alongside input from skilled pharmacy personnel - to provide an efficient and safe process.

The company posted a 41 per cent increase in revenue to £60.7m in the year to the end of March 2019, up from £43.2m the year before.

However, Mr Livingstone said he is happy to run the company at a loss while it invests in marketing to rapidly grow its customer base.

Although the company became profitable in April 2019, following a £16m loss the year before, significant spending meant it would still record a loss this year, he said.

He added: “We have been profitable this year. However, there is such a large growth opportunity, we have chosen to run at a loss because we are investing heavily in our marketing and choosing to grow rapidly.”