LloydsPharmacy parent company appoints new chief executive after six-month vacancy

Toby Anderson, currently chief executive of Asia and Eastern Europe for the Watson Group, which owns Superdrug, will take the helm at Celesio UK on 1 September 2018.

Toby Anderson, new chief executive of Celesio UK

Celesio UK, the parent company of LloydsPharmacy, has appointed a new chief executive, six months after its previous boss resigned unexpectedly.

Toby Anderson, who will take up the post on 1 September 2018, will be moving from the Watson Group, which owns Superdrug, where he is chief executive of Asia and Eastern Europe.

Anderson began his career as a graduate recruit to Sainsbury’s, eventually running their online businesses before relocating to Asia in 2005. Since then, his career for the Watson Group has included country management roles and eight years as marketing director for Asia and Eastern Europe.

Celesio UK’s previous managing director, Cormac Tobin, resigned suddenly in November 2017, one week after it was announced that 190 LloydsPharmacy stores would close because they were no longer commercially viable.

Tobin had been with Celesio UK for ten years before his departure, four years of which he was chief executive.

After leaving Celesio UK, Tobin told The Pharmaceutical Journal
that he had resigned to be with his family.

Celesio UK said its board would run the firm until a successor was found.

Brian Tyler, chair of the management board of McKesson Europe, which owns Celesio UK, said: “We are evolving into an agile business that can respond to changing customer behaviour, play a larger role in the health of our communities, take advantage of technological advancements and react to legislative changes.

“Toby [Anderson] is committed to navigating the current and future challenges that our company faces and helping us to truly transform healthcare in the UK.”

Last updated
Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, PJ, May 2018, Vol 300, No 7913;300(7913):DOI:10.1211/PJ.2018.20204806

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