Love at first sight at Inveraray Pharmacy
THEY say variety is the spice of life.
The new owner at Inveraray Pharmacy is one man who clearly believes in variety where business is concerned. Sanjay Majhu is a former waiter who went on to buy the restaurant he once had served tables in – the Spice of Life in Glasgow's West End.
He became known as the curry king of Scotland as chief executive of the Glasgow-based Harlequin Leisure Group, with 12 restaurants as well as cook school restaurants in the company portfolio.
He was born in 1968 in Kenya. He and his family Majhu moved to Glasgow when he was eight, and that is where his father opened a grocer’s shop in Pollokshaws Road.
After graduating in agricultural chemistry in 1990, he was soon drawn back to the restaurant industry. Having settled down with wife and family, he began to look for a career with more regular hours than the restaurant business.
He returned to university to study a subject that had always fascinated him – pharmacy.
He worked during daylight hours as a locum pharmacist the length and breadth of Scotland while doing restaurant shifts at night. It wasn't long, of course, before he owned a chain of chemists. By 2005, by his own admission his entrepreneurial streak was 'going mental', and he bought Harlequin from Charan Gill – including the famous Ashoka brand – for £4 million.
The credit crunch struck, and by 2015 Majhu was selling off assets to clear debt.
'By 2016, I became semiretired,' he said. 'It was a strange feeling, but it did give me more time to spend on my remaining businesses. I was quite happy, but I'm still just 48 and I soon began to look around for fresh challenges.'
His attention was drawn to Inveraray Pharmacy, newly on the market.
He recalled: 'I drove out from Glasgow with my family. It was a beautiful drive.'
That was it – love at first sight – with both the business and the area around Loch Fyne.
He explained: 'I want to enjoy this business, and to be honest I love it. I have big plans for the shop.'
These include extended opening hours, a new delivery service and a minor ailments clinic.
'I just love Inveraray and Loch Fyne. The air is so different from Glasgow, and in many ways this shop reminds me of my first pharmacy in Saltcoats.
'I hope people will come and say hello. The staff here are fantastic and I am lucky to have them.
'I just want to carry on from where Mr McNulty left off, and provide the kind of service people want around Inveraray.'