South Derbyshire MP, Heather Wheeler, today met with Shakespeare Pharma Ltd to learn about the business and to discuss the company’s operations as Brexit approaches.
Heather met with Managing Director, Simon Shakespeare, Director of Regulatory and Business Development, Paul Shakespeare and Commercial Director, Paul Keeton.
Shakespeare Pharma is a parallel importer of pharmaceutical products from a variety of countries in the European Union. The business operates by purchasing pharmaceutical products manufactured in other EU countries, repackaging them, importing them to the UK and then selling them on. Because each EU country sets its own pricing for medicines, the company can buy cheaply, sell at a discounted rate in the UK and still remain competitive. Currently, 25 million packs of medicine are dispensed annually in the UK via parallel importers.
Mr Shakespeare gave Heather a tour of the business and set out what he feels are the key aspects for consideration during Brexit negotiations.
Commenting on the visit, Heather said:
“Businesses such as Shakespeare Pharma are an important part of the South Derbyshire area and so meeting with Simon and his colleagues to listen to their concerns is something I have been very keen to do. Parallel importers play an important role in our pharmaceutical industry and we need to see what we can do to help them through the UK’s exit from the EU.
I have certainly taken on board the points raised and will be speaking to ministerial colleagues in the Department for Exiting the European Union to relay these.”
Simon Shakespeare, Managing Director of Shakespeare Pharma added:
“Shakespeare Pharma were honoured to entertain Heather at our Hilton office this morning. It is reassuring that our local Member of Parliament takes our concerns over Brexit so seriously and that we share a common goal, to get the best deal for both our region and the country as a whole.”
Further information on Shakespeare Pharma's work is available on their website.