Feisal Nahaboo reveals ‘dream executive team’ to transform healthcare as Alitam prepares for major private equity investment

Over the last 12 months, Alitam founder and CEO Feisal Nahaboo has masterminded an ambitious recruitment drive to build an executive board of “breathtaking talent”, tasked to deliver his multi-billion-pound ‘Pharmacy of the Future’ concept that will ‘change the face of pharmacy’ by building a world-leading preventative healthcare model with the expertise of pharmacists at its core.

Alitam founder Feisal Nahaboo has today unveiled the full executive board he has assembled to take his ambitious multi-billion-pound ‘Pharmacy of the Future’ concept from the drawing board to the High Street.

It has taken 12 months of “continual engagement and negotiations” to bring together the handpicked team, with all members being respected pioneers in their field: top strategists, entrepreneurs, pharmacists, politicians and financiers.

The board will work in unison to deliver Nahaboo’s vision of nationwide easily accessible, affordable healthcare underpinned by pharmacists, including the provision of wide-ranging clinical and GP-type services.

This promises to transform Britain’s healthcare system from remedial to preventative while also relieving the burden on the struggling NHS, and HSE in Ireland.

The unveiling comes as Alitam, the 100-plus pharmacy group covering the UK and Ireland, gears up for a significant influx of private equity investment which will help facilitate entrepreneur Nahaboo’s ambitious plans with the group.

Nahaboo said: “This extraordinary, revolutionary healthcare movement, requires extraordinary people to be at the helm.

“So I’ve handpicked the leaders in their field, exhaustively detailing to each the breadth and depth of my vision for Alitam, and pharmacy as a whole.

“Following a year of continual engagement and negotiations, I’m delighted to announce this line-up, which constitutes a formidable array of talent.

“Every single appointee, including latest board addition Bharti Patel, shares the drive to work collectively, as one body with one vision: to deliver easily accessible, affordable healthcare—encompassing a wide range of clinical services typically provided by GPs such as ear irrigation, vaccinations, weight management, diabetes checks, minor ailments clinics and much more—that will relieve the considerable burden on the NHS and HSE in Ireland.

“We are pulling together to implement innovations at incredible speed. The cross-fertilisation of ideas is astonishing. Our acquisition strategy is ambitious, we’re planning for 10 per cent organic growth over the next five years.

“Our radical plans for preventative healthcare, as opposed to the current, reactive model, are also bold. I recently announced a multi-billion-pound plan to launch a chain of ‘Super Pharmacies’ across the UK and Ireland within the next five to ten years.

“These Super Pharmacies will offer everything from highly regulated ophthalmic and audiology services to physiotherapy and even midwife-led care.”

Leading the Alitam executive team is Chairman Sir Ken Olisa, Lord Lieutenant of London (the Queen’s representative in the capital) and a leading light in the worlds of business and philanthropy—for which he earnt a knighthood in 2018.

As director of Reuters, he was the first British-born black man to serve as a director of a FTSE100 company. In 2016 he was named Number 1 in the Powerlist’s roster of the UK’s most influential black people.

Until recently, he served as a non-executive board member of Huawei but resigned last week over a matter of principle regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Chief Operating Officer Bharti Patel, the former Avicenna Group executive director who boasts a strong track record of creating value for major UK and European organisations within the healthcare sector, is charged with overseeing the integration of new pharmacies to the Alitam Group, achieving cost efficiencies and improving profit margins.

She will also work closely with Alitam CEO Nahaboo in building a preventative healthcare network, identifying reputable suppliers of services, negotiating terms and helping the board—and all Alitam pharmacies—implement these services.

Zac Brech, former MD of Credit Suisse, is Alitam’s CFO and will be working on the financial modelling of the group’s ambitious 100-plus roll-up programme.

Having previously managed the complex and high-profile merger of Alliance Unichem and Boots, he is said to bring great insight and know-how regarding M&A deals in the world of pharmacy, which will be of “inestimable value” at this vital juncture as Alitam seek significant private equity investment.

Brech will also be tasked with the financial modelling of organic growth for individual pharmacies as Alitam seeks to integrate innovative service lines, as well as the modelling of Alitam’s acquisition and Super Pharmacies programmes.

Dhruv Patel OBE—the renowned businessman, politician and community organiser—was one of Nahaboo’s earliest signings to the Alitam board and will be heading up the Next Gen people roll-out across all stores.

He was formerly a governor of East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) from 2014 to 2017, during a time in which the Trust achieved an Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission CQC.

Patel currently sits on the Property Committee of the Clothworkers Livery Company, which has an estimated £300million in real-estate assets.

Alitam’s Head of UK Pharmacies is Harry Johal, a highly experienced pharmacist and currently an equity director in the largest UK pharmacy group within Alitam.

Johal possesses both significant operational experience and a thorough understanding of the professional services side of the pharmacy sector.

He will be working to support and guide all the UK pharmacies within Alitam to co-ordinate and integrate.

Head of Ireland pharmacies is Ray McSharry, who runs the largest pharmacy group in West Ireland and brings his formidable experience and deep insights to the board.

Prakash Patel, Alitam’s operations director, has a formidable reputation among pharmacists, works tirelessly on various industry boards, and is a vocal advocate for support for pharmacies in the face of regulatory change.

Prakash is assisting Alitam in reducing costs, increasing its economies of scale, and facilitating the group’s expansion across the UK.

Antony Isaacs, one of the city’s foremost movers and shakers, is a recent appointment to the board, joining as non-executive director (subject to contract).

Isaac’s knowledge of Equity Capital Markets (ECM) is second to none, with him previously establishing ECM divisions for a number of high-profile banks such as Credit Suisse and HSBC Global bank.

Three decades of experience in the city has furnished Isaacs with the knowledge and expertise to guide Alitam in seeking high-level investment; and in achieving the goal of acquiring over 100 further stores in the next two years.

He will also be instrumental in planning the roll-out of ‘Super Pharmacies’ at key locations in the UK and Ireland.

The executive board is rounded off by Alitam founder and CEO Nahaboo, who said: “My role will be largely focused around tasks such as steering the group strategy; implementing new product and service lines; driving cost efficiencies, new income streams; and heading up the M&A team.

“But the endgame is that, by creating the trusted, visionary High Street pharmacy Alitam, more lives will be saved, rates of infection will be lowered, clinical issues will be spotted early on and treated efficiently, secondary care services will be protected, and suffering from physical and mental problems will become greatly reduced.

“This is the mission I hold in my heart at all times as CEO of this inspiring company.

“Given the capabilities of our board, investors clearly have huge confidence in us to deliver. Everyone sees right away the ‘industrial logic’, as Sir Ken calls it, of Alitam, and I am in talks with several interested parties.

“I will be making further announcements soon. I’m gathering 25-plus pharmacy leaders this month to work collectively in disrupting the industry and leading change.

“The face of pharmacy will change and many people are backing me and Alitam to ensure this happens.”

For more information about Alitam, visit www.alitamgroup.com. For more information on Feisal Nahaboo, visit www.feisal.co.uk or follow him on Linkedin.