New Celesio UK managing director Cormac Tobin has said that Lloydspharmacy will not be following in the footsteps of competitor Boots by selling ready meals because the benefits are unclear.

Mr Tobin, who took over the role earlier this month, said that selling food could "pick up a bit of sales" but he doubted it was a long-term opportunity.

Boots, which announced last month that it would be launching a range of evening ready meals in 100 London stores, had a very different business model to Lloydspharmacy, Mr Tobin said in an exclusive interview with C+D.

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	Boots was trying to be "a lot of things to a lot of people", he said, while Lloydspharmacy was known for its focus on healthcare. "We are not renowned for food, or the authenticity of food as a retailer," Mr Tobin added.

"We are renowned for the authenticity around pain management. We are renowned for the authenticity around screening. Lloyds does a brilliant job at screening at the moment and we see that enhancing more."

Mr Tobin added that it would also be difficult to compete with established food retailers such as Waitrose, John Lewis and Sainsbury's.

"If you look at retailers, there's a polarisation. There's the big boys doing a lot of things and doing very well and there's smaller guys with smaller stores and smaller networks who are also doing well," he said. "We don't have to be huge as regards to store size or products range, but we can be good in a very focused way."

Mr Tobin was the managing director of Celesio's Irish retail arm Unicarepharmacy before he replaced Mark James as Celesio UK managing director. Mr James left after only a year in the role and Celesio did not given a reason for the move.

Mr Tobin said that he thought Mr James left the company to "do other things" and that he had done a very good job at bringing together AAH Pharmaceuticals and Lloydspharmacy as part of Celesio UK.

Mr Tobin was confident that he could fill Mr James' shoes and "bring the business forward" by creating a team of "inspired, knowledgeable and passionate people".