Day Lewis and Avicenna to jointly develop services

Day Lewis and Avicenna have signed a new partnership deal that will help both companies to improve their service offering and expand their UK presence.

The companies will work together to provide 360-degree support to their pharmacies and members across a number of areas, including merchandising, business monitoring and training, reports Chemist and Druggist.

It will aim to help both groups avoid the duplication of time, efforts and costs, with Avicenna's successfully-piloted virtual chain initiative ACE Plus set to be the first scheme implemented through the collaboration.

Avicenna and Day Lewis will also be hoping to jointly acquire new pharmacies in order to broaden the scope of their operations in the north of England.

Kirit Patel, Day Lewis' chief executive, said: "By pooling resources and utilising each company's expertise, we will be able to develop future support packages more quickly and efficiently."

Day Lewis is the largest family-owned pharmacy chain in Europe and has grown from two pharmacies in 1975 to around 200 outlets today.