History of A1 Pharmaceuticals

Why, When, Where and How It All Started

The entrepreneurial bug first gripped Gary Lewis (CEO) when he was only 8 years old. During summer vacations in Torbay during the 60s, he would spend all day collecting returnable glass bottles which had been discarded by the public on the busy beaches of South Devon. When he had as many bottles as he could carry, he would run off to nearby retailers to reclaim the deposits. Gary developed a healthy interest in saving money and creating wealth at the very early age of only 8 years. Working from morning till night he would religiously deposit the day's takings into a post office savings account. Gary says that "one of the most important business lessons I picked up at a very young age was that hard work and determination brings success".

Parents Inspiration

Both parents were very confident, honest, and hard-working people and were keen to pass these qualities on. Gary's father for example often would say that "if another boy could do it, all they have proved is that there is a way and that if you believe in yourself, and work hard enough you can do it better". Confidence was never in short supply in the Lewis household and one was expected to lead rather than to be led.

Sport develops Tenacity and Determination

At school Gary was very successful at sport representing his county at cross-country running and Judo. Both these sports are famous for the tenacity and determination, qualities which are valuable prerequisites for a successful career in the competitive world of business.

Carmen and Gary Meet

Although Gary and Carmen were both from Vauxhall and never lived more than 200 yards apart they only eventually met in their teens in Wales after they both attended a youth club from the local church in which they were both active. Vauxhall was in those days a very tough and poor neighbourhood of south-east London and this gave them the drive and motivation to aim for a better life.

Education

Both Carmen and Gary were keen students at school. Where Carmen had a flair for drama and languages, Gary was the school's top scientist. But by coincidence both excelled particularly at business studies and economics. Gary was fortunate enough that his parents could afford to support him through university to study pharmacy, but Carmen was out at work in Retail enduring a gruelling 50-hour week at the tender age of 16 supplementing the families' meagre income.

Founding of A1

5 years after Gary graduated in Pharmacy from Portsmouth both had gained sufficient business experience to found A1 Pharmaceuticals in 1987. Gary's strong entrepreneurial eye noticed that Carmen had a natural ability to be liked by others and was adored by her customers. The opportunity was immediately seized where Carmen would handle sales and Gary would manage the company and its strategy. Their backgrounds and blends of skills strongly complemented one another and has resulted in one of the most successful husband and wife teams in the healthcare industry.

The Early Days

Starting with little or no capital the first few years of a fledgling business are notoriously tough and this was no exception at A1. Both Gary and Carmen were working 7 days a week for 80 hours or more. Carmen visited up to 40 retail outlets a day on foot which meant walking approximately 10 miles a day literally wearing out shoe leather and learning her craft the hard way. Neither had a company car for 3 years and the first years turnover was only £30,000 but it was a start and the seeds of a great company were sown!

Gary and Carmen relaxing at a company conference. The company is experiencing exceptional net profit growth of 13% in spite of adverse market conditions during 2007/8.