Glasgow firm bids to be ‘Deliveroo of pharmacy’

A GLASGOW-BASED start-up that describes its business model as the “Deliveroo of pharmacy” has set its sights on expansion in major cities south of the Border.

Phlo, founded by former banker Nadeem Sarwar at the start of the year, has grown rapidly since it secured its first contract with the NHS in England. That deal has led the firm to establish a strong foothold in London, where it delivers prescriptions to patients by bike. Now it plans to move into Manchester and Birmingham, with growth aspirations boosted by a £1.65 million crowdfunding campaign. That campaign, which launched on Crowdcube this week, is expected to be over-subscribed.

Phlo is a registered pharmacy, permitting it to dispense prescriptions, and has built the back-end operating technology and software for its digital platform. It also controls its own logistics operation, with patients promised that they will receive their prescriptions within four hours of being issued by their GP.

The company, which has received “significant investment” from a private cornerstone investor, ultimately plans to launch its service in Scotland, but at present the NHS north of the Border is still developing the technology – an electronic prescription system – required. However, the company’s now 30-strong team is led from

Scotland, where it has staff in highly-skilled roles such as software engineers, designers and pharmacists.

Mr Sarwar said the plan is to scale up “city by city”. He added: “There are 36 million patients on prescription in England. About 1% have gone online. My firm belief is the next five million patients will go online in the next two years – it is our job to go and grab a nice slice of that market share.”

The firm forecasts turnover of £1.6m in its first year.