Peter Cattee, AIMp chair, told C+D that while he is “disappointed” at the news that Pharmacy Voice will disband at the end of 2017, the collapse will create an opportunity for a new collaboration, that will learn from the areas where the lobbying group fell down.

“If we all thought the same [in the sector], we’d have one organisation. We clearly don’t [think the same], so we need a neutral place where we can discuss the things we feel differently about and come to some common policy,” he told C+D last Wednesday (February 8).

Mr Cattee said that Pharmacy Voice "couldn't manage its own internal pressures", but added he hoped there was "a learning in that".

The sector’s three component parts – independents, multiples and 'regional multiples' – need to get together "as soon as possible" and "agree some common ground and a future that works for all of us”, Mr Cattee stressed.

He did not rule out the possibility of AIMp and the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) forming their own partnership in the future, as has previously been the case.

“Predating Pharmacy Voice we had [a collaboration] called AIM CCA Ltd," Mr Cattee explained. However, he said that AIMp and the CCA are both members of the NPA.

"The culture of our business is much more aligned with independent [pharmacies] because we grew from that sector," he added.