Durbin PLC was founded as a retail pharmacy in Harrow, London in 1963. The company later began exporting medicines and medical supplies abroad.

Leslie Morgan joined the company in 1976 as a pharmacist and developed the export side of the business soon after as international sales director. He travelled widely, sourcing medicines and meeting new customers from around the world.

In 1999, Leslie Morgan bought the company and took on the role of Managing Director, heading up a small team which has now grown to an 80-strong workforce of pharmacists, nurses, medical engineers, commercial executives and warehouse/freight staff. In November 2002, we bought the trading arm of the charity ECHO International Health Services - one of the leading UK suppliers of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals to healthcare professionals around the world. In the same month, we launched our unlicensed/'named-patient' medicine service - helping UK hospitals, retail chemists and dispensing GPs find medicines that are not available in the UK.

During 2004, Durbin PLC launched two new services - Clinical Trials and Durbin Clinic Sales. Our Clinical Trials team source medicines for comparator studies and multi-centre delivery. Durbin Clinic Sales supplies UK GPs and clinics with the complete range of reversible contraceptives.

"Initially my goal was to find out what problems healthcare professionals were having in getting hold of medicines and supplies and to source whatever they needed as quickly and cost-effectively as possible," says Leslie. "The whole operation still revolves around that philosophy and it works. Our customers call with a request and we find what they need and get it to them when they need it."

The head office remains in South Harrow, London and our medical supplies team is based in Coulsdon, Surrey.