A great leader
is judged
by what they
leave behind
In our latest Up-Close interview we speak with Mark Livingstone, Chair at Parsley Box and former CEO at Pharmacy2U
Please share the story behind the inception of Chemist Direct / Pharmacy2U? What was that moment of inspiration or challenge that led you to start this journey?
I spent a lot of my career building subscription-based services, first at LOVEFiLM, then serving as a founding investor and on the board of Graze. I felt no one was looking at prescription through the lens of subscription and that they are quite similar. A lot of the disciplines in subscription businesses were applicable to prescription including reminding customers each month to order from you, watching churn, and assessing what your customer recruitment dynamics are like. This led me to want to join Pharmacy2U.
The business was started in 2016 via a merger between Chemist Direct and Pharmacy2U with the fantastic support of BGF, and by 2018 we attracted major private equity investment from G Square Capital, a leading European healthcare specialist who really understood our mission. Around 50% of the UK population are on repeat prescription and as we age, we only become more poly-medicated, so, the need for businesses like Pharmacy2U was very obvious to me. The business was founded on the mission of helping people live independent happy lives and fully supporting the NHS and this mission is still very much alive today.
If you look back, what are you most proud of in terms of what you've built out and the impact you've made in the past couple of years?
Pharmacy2U continues to grow and serve patients in a number of ways including being a distance dispenser, pharmacy store, offering pharmacy-first contracting services, contraception services, as well as an online doctor business. Feeling as though you've been a force for good is a great feeling. When I look back at my career, I am most proud of my time at Pharmacy2U as I have led a business that's helped people live happy and independent lives. A great leader is judged by what they leave behind and handover. I am so pleased that the team, under new leadership and with the full support of their investors, has continued to grow the business from strength to strength since I have left the business. The business continues to make massive strides forward due to both the amazing team we built, and the fantastic new leadership which is in place.
Describe to us, the transition from CEO to Chairman
Over the years, it has become obvious to me that being a great CEO is about realising it is a relay. I ran Pharmacy2U for 8 years and at this point it was a great opportunity for new management to come in and breath fresh life into the business. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a CEO for the last 25 years. However, I wanted to share all the insights from both my successes and failures, but I did not want the responsibility of running a business full-time. Currently, I am really excited to be working with Parsley Box, based in Edinburgh, which has over 50,000 active customers, and is one of the top three D2C ready-made meal services in UK. We provide pre-made, nutritious, microwaveable meals direct-to-home for the older demographic. I really liked the fact it was in no way competitive to Pharmacy2U but that it was complementary in terms of the older demographic and has a really good steer on its future direction and significant growth opportunities. I am an exec Chair, spending 2 days a week in the business, but I am giving the leadership team the latitude and support to function in their roles with me hopefully complementing from an operational perspective as well strategic and governance of the board and investors.
Every founder/CEO faces challenges. Can you share a particularly tough challenge you've encountered at Pharmacy2U and how you overcame it? What lessons did you learn?
COVID-19 was a pivot point for the business. We had an ability to scale but there was a ceiling of about 20-30%. The demand for our services multiplied by 200% overnight, yet somehow we managed to stay open 24/7 throughout the whole of COVID. This was achieved through the launch of new distance dispensing hubs, which we were able to launch in 7-12 days and that was because of a brilliant team working together in unison. It was definitely the most stressful period of my career as I was not quite sure how we would cope at first. The challenge that COVID-19 posed galvanised the closeness of the leadership team. Lessons learned included setting direction that gave people latitude to bring their initiative to the party, setting short-term goals that you are constantly up ticking (we had daily and weekly goals). Celebrating success of the individual whilst sharing failures jointly.
“Feeling as though you've been a force for good is a great feeling. When I look back at my career, I am most proud of my time at Pharmacy2U as I have led a business that's helped people live happy and independent lives.”
In your opinion, what are the top attributes of a great CEO?
The attributes I am about to discuss are not necessarily my attributes, rather what I have observed over the years. The best CEOs I have worked with and observed, have a deep intelligence, and really understand what makes their business tick, and intuitively understand the various levers within their business. Additionally, I think an innate ability to recognise, empower, develop and reward stars within a business is fundamental to a CEO’s success. They should have real humility, respect and humbleness for both customer and colleagues. One of my mantras has always been that “please” and “thank you” gets you far in the business world; some people really forget that along the way.
“The best CEOs I have worked with and observed, have a deep intelligence, and really understand what makes their business tick”
Are there any books or content that have influenced your career or leadership style that you would recommend?
There are two great books that have influenced my career. Firstly, a book called ‘Built to Last’ by Jim Collins, a Harvard analysis of 18 businesses over the last century. The book outlines the results of a six-year research project exploring what leads to enduringly great companies with case studies including Apple and Boeing. I would also highly recommend listening to a lecture from Scott Galloway, a professor of Business at NYU where he deep dives into how Amazon, Google and Facebook established their success, and what he thinks is in store for them in the future. Whilst a little dated now, still a great listen.
