Where Are You Now?

David, 87, retired from full-time pharmacy management with Boots the Chemists in 1993, then undertook locum work until fully retiring in 2001. He currently cares full-time for his wife Jill who has advanced Alzheimer’s disease.

David explained: “I joined Boots on leaving school in 1953 to complete the necessary one-year apprenticeship. As my school had no sixth form college, I was able to obtain the equivalent A levels (the 1 year Pharmacy Intermediate exam) at Leicester before enrolling at the Sunderland School of Pharmacy.

“Following qualifying I married Jill, my wife for 65 years. I then had to complete two years of National Service as a Staff Sergeant in the Army Medical Corps in a hospital in Malaya. On completion in 1960, I was offered work with Boots and after two years as a relief manager, I was appointed to my first management in the Nottingham area. Further promotions in the area brought me finally to West Bridgford where I retired in 1993.”

Asked about his greatest achievement to date, David replied: “In business I successfully managed a succession of Boots stores through promotion, whilst at the same time developing my personal skills with challenging leisure activities such as speleology and film-making. I added to my management responsibilities when I took on the role of Tutor Pharmacist and gained great satisfaction assisting graduates to gain valuable practical experience during their compulsory post-graduate year. 

“At the age of 50 I took up the sport of speleology (caving) which enabled me to develop a ‘second career’ as Cave Conservation Officer for the Derbyshire Caving Association. I successfully introduced a national conservation cave monitoring scheme (SSSI) programme winning several awards along the way.”

When asked about his biggest challenge, David replied: “Completing the course to qualify as a pharmacist was very challenging to me. I learnt a valuable lesson while at Sunderland; success in exams comes easily to some, but for others it only comes through hard work and has to be earned; distractions are many and maintaining a fully- focussed attitude and commitment to productive study is essential.

“There were many challenges during my career as a branch manager with up to 40 staff members. Adapting to the ever-changing technology and systems was always one of the greater challenges.  Outside of work I was also challenged to prepare a workable system of monitoring the caves and mines in Derbyshire for Natural England, thereby maintaining a high level of conservation of selected important geological features. I won several awards for leading this work (SSSI Award, Greenwatch Award) and have written several published cave conservation papers and booklets.”

David was attracted to the Sunderland School of Pharmacy because his course was set up by the Pharmaceutical Society who only chose establishments with a proven high standard of learning.

He said: “I found the course quite demanding but eventual qualification was all the more fulfilling. Things have changed significantly since I was there in the late 1950’s, and the route to qualifying more protracted but I suspect not a lot easier!”

As someone who has had a very varied and successful career, David’s piece of advice for recent graduates entering the job market is to be open to criticism and be prepared to learn from others not as academically qualified as yourself.

“Academic success does not necessarily equate to success in the job market,” he said. “I often found that common sense is not as common as it should be. Few jobs will give complete satisfaction so consider out-of-hours activities/interests to help develop a fully rounded personality.”

Asked about his future plans, David concluded: “There is little scope at 87 but I still have ambitions to travel and write about life during and post WW2.”