For former RoE Awards finalist Richard Stephenson, being named Highly Commended in the 2014 Retail Skills category opened lots of doors and boosted his flourishing career

Just over three years ago, Richard Stephenson (pictured) heard about the inaugural Recognition of Excellence (RoE) Awards while working as head of retail and operations at Right Medicine Pharmacy and toyed with the idea of entering. “It’s always hard doing self-nomination and patting yourself on the back,” Richard recalls, “but I thought, why not?”

With nothing to lose, and the prospect of being able to highlight the positives of the retail side of pharmacy, he sent in an entry for the Retail Skills category. And it certainly paid off. The judges praised the impressive impact he’d made at Right Medicine Pharmacy by raising the standard of the 16 pharmacies in the group, and he was awarded Highly Commended in the category.

At the time, Richard had been in his role for around four years, but his journey into the world of pharmacy had started a few years previously when he worked for Procter and Gamble in category development. “I developed a keen interest in how to display and promote products in pharmacy, which I really enjoyed,” he says. “It’s shaped where I am today and set me on this career path, which is really rewarding.”

A passion for retail

Indeed, the skills that Richard developed at Procter and Gamble were easily transferrable into the pharmacy environment. Within just a short space of time, he had initiated a 30 per cent increase in sales by introducing new items, point of sale merchandising and promotions. 

Another three years on and Richard is still thoroughly enjoying his role at Right Medicine Pharmacy and championing pharmacy as a valuable retail environment.

 “In 2014, the retail side of pharmacy was under a lot of pressure,” says Richard. “There was even the question of whether it was worth investing in, but really, in my view, where would pharmacy be without the retail side? Yes, prescriptions are 95 per cent of the business, but customers are expecting that full retail experience. Can you imagine Boots or the other big pharmacy chains not selling all their retail and only having a pharmacy? I think not!”

Since the RoE Awards, Richard’s role has expanded, as has Right Medicine Pharmacy, and he’s now head of group operations. This means he looks after the day-to-day running of the company’s 22 branches as well as the head office function across Scotland. “My day can be anything from retail buying and HR queries to training and development, whilst ensuring our teams have all the tools needed to do their jobs,” he explains. “I still make it an active interest to visit the pharmacies, rather than it being a need for my job. I get out to a pharmacy at least once a week and it’s a different one each week so I can get around to them all.”

Broad horizons

Being named a finalist in the RoE Awards had a positive impact both professionally and personally for Richard. “It gave me a feeling of self-worth,” he says. “Being recognised by the other professionals on the judging panel and hearing them say that the job I was doing was worthy of recognition really did give me a boost.”

As a consequence of the Awards, Richard was also invited to be involved in the 2015 SMART Conference, run by Communications International Group, the publisher of Training Matters. “I was invited to be on a panel of speakers who were asked questions by industry guys,” Richard explains. “It was a really great experience and led to conversations about how to expand as a business. It was a nice step in developing new skills and opportunities.”

The expansion of the business means that Richard’s workload has prevented him from doing more of this kind of work as yet. However, he’s keen to get involved in as many projects as his schedule allows. As such, for the past two years, Richard has been involved in the RoE Awards as a judge, and he encourages all support staff to enter in 2018. “Support staff should absolutely apply next year, no matter how small they think their contribution is,” he says. “I’ve always had the view that support staff are the foundation of the pharmacy. They’re the ones who meet the customers coming through the doors and say goodbye as they leave – they’re a huge part of the experience. Yes, pharmacists play a critical role, but support staff leave the lasting impression and deal with the bulk of queries. The RoE Awards are purely focused on support staff, which is hugely important because we couldn’t operate the business without them.”

Challenging times

Since the first RoE Awards in 2014, the pharmacy landscape has changed dramatically and the sector is facing challenging times. “Pharmacy has got more difficult over the last few years and we’ve got to work harder to get the same income,” says Richard. “I think the living wage impact at the support staff level has been particularly difficult – pharmacy doesn’t have the funds to bridge the gap – as have the pharmacy cuts. We’re lucky in Scotland because we’re not getting the cuts, but we’re still having to work harder to get the same results.”

Despite facing these challenges, Richard believes that it’s the close-knit nature of pharmacy teams that boosts morale. “Pharmacy is made up of great teams,” he says. “Small pharmacies are often like families and I think that’s what makes all the difference and keeps us going.” 

On a personal level, this is certainly the case, as Richard says that along with the fact that his varied role makes every day different, the team of people across the whole company is what he loves most about his job.

What’s next? 

Richard’s dedication and hard work have seen him expand his role at Right Medicine Pharmacy over the last seven years, and he aspires to continue to do this, long into the future. “I’m doing a diploma in management and leadership at the minute, which will add a new area to my expertise, and I’m keen to continue to move with the company,” Richard says. “The equivalent of general manager status is definitely on my radar and the running of the company day-to-day is my ultimate aim.”

It’s always hard doing self-nomination and patting yourself on the back, but I thought, why not?