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I usually get up around 6.15am to the sound of Radio 4's Today programme, then have a cup of tea and a yoghurt for breakfast. It's a 45-minute drive to my office, but that varies if I'm on store visits or travelling to Boots' Nottingham HQ.
If it's an office day then inevitably it's meetings (which can be back to back and somewhat hectic) and, of course, dealing with emails and calls. But the days I enjoy most are when I'm in stores meeting our customers and talking to our store colleagues.
I try to get out into stores at least once or twice a week – I do miss the day-to-day interaction that I had when I was working at the coal face, but I get to experience that in a different way as superintendent. I get perhaps a broader view of what patients think of our services. I certainly don't miss standing up all the time – but that might be my age!
I had wanted to study a subject that interested me academically but would also lead to a rewarding career and where I could feel I could really make a difference, and I just thought pharmacy fitted on all those counts. So off I went to Bradford University, back in the days when new romantics were fashionable!
Although I toyed with the idea of an academic career – I was originally keen to do a PhD in pharmacology and transdermal drug delivery Ð it was the draw of the practical application of what I had learnt and the variety of experience that took me into community pharmacy.
There was less use of my clinical skills than I was expecting at first. But I had a good foundation in practice generally, both from my pre-reg year and years of summer vacation work with Boots, so there was no big shock.
After training with Boots I moved south with the company, becoming a second pharmacist, then management trainee, then store manager Ð a typical career pathway. I then took an area management role with Safeway and spent 15 years in various roles with that company, including eight as superintendent pharmacist and three as general manager of pharmacy, before joining Alliance Pharmacy in 2005. I took over as superintendent for Alliance in 2007 and was appointed superintendent of the merged Boots UK business in April last year.
Right now, top of my to do list is next year's activities and budgets. We're doing some exciting work at the moment on multi-channel health, to enhance and build on the online healthcare resource we have just launched, Boots WebMD. My team worked closely with colleagues across the business on that launch and I'm really proud of what they have done.
My favourite thing about my job is the feeling of satisfaction when you and your team have been a part of something that delivers something for our patients and customers that truly adds value. I don't enjoy the never-ending growth of email as a form of communication, I would much rather pick up the phone.
If I'm in the office I'll try and get away by 7.30pm, but if I'm travelling it can be a lot later than that. After finishing my law degree with the OU a couple of years ago I now have more time free in the evenings, but I tend to squander them in front of the TV or doing some web surfing. Weekends are usually taken up with walking the dog, taxiing the kids around and, if the weather's good, trying to get out in my Caterham 7.