The former manager of a Leicester branch of Jhoots Pharmacy has bought the store and rebranded it as Aylestone Pharmacy.

Shahid Shaikh, who had managed the pharmacy for four years, managed to buy it with a loan from Christie Finance.  He plans to launch new services and products from the business.

Mr Shaikh, who is running Aylestone Pharmacy alongside his wife Zainab, said: “Being first-time buyers, we were quite nervous about the whole process and realised that we would need expert advice to find solutions for this project.

“It was always a dream to own the pharmacy, something that had been an ambition for many years. We finally had the opportunity to make it a reality.

“Having worked for Jhoots Pharmacy, I got to know the customers, so it felt very special to find a business that also felt like home.”

David Ward, senior director at Christie Finance said: “It’s really pleasing to be able to assist Shahid in purchasing the business which he has run as the manager for the past four years. He knows the pharmacy and the patients and is now able to expand the business and run it how he wants to run it.

“Half of our job is to arrange the finance. The other half is to help with issues that crop up in the legal process, which is precisely what happened here – but we were able to help resolve these and get the purchase over the line.”