Avicenna's 22 pharmacy group has outperformed the national average with 6 per cent growth, reported the group's head of retail, Naz Maghji. The group is keen to share their experiences with Avicenna members.

A focus on the team is key she said, and reducing back office burdens from their managers. ‘We take away the stress of regulatory affairs and buying, giving time for the pharmacy manager to train the team.’ Having said that, the passion and drive that characterises successful independent pharmacy is very difficult to ‘bottle’, she said.

‘We are bonusing all our teams against KPIs for each pharmacy, and are now looking to see if can bonus with shares. Staff loyalty is high and our teams are engaged.’ The team rationalise the OTC stock, remove slow selling lines and focus on link selling instead, she said.

_{Naz Maghji was speaking to delegates at the recent Avicenna conference in Cyprus}