PERSONALITIES NoRthERN IRElAND phARmAcY IS


AwASh wIth SpoRtSmEN AND womEN. wE SpEAK to SomE of oUR locAl


phARmAcY pRofESSIoNAlS ABoUt thEIR oUtSIDE INtEREStS. wE KIcK off wIth foRmER lINfIElD AND glENtoRAN footBAllER, JUStIN mcBRIDE


A wINNER - on and off the pitch


I


t’s any sales representative’s primary goal: to build working relationships with customers


throughout their sales area. But, when Sangers AAh sales representative, Justin mcBride, first took on his role ten years ago, he didn’t need to introduce himself to his customers.


that’s because Justin already knew them all after spending eight years as a van driver for the company, distributing across Northern Ireland!


while Justin was delivering pharmaceutical product ranges to pharmacies across the province, however, he was also delivering on the football pitch as a winger, firstly


with glentoran and then with linfield; one of only a handful of footballers to have played for the Irish league’s ‘big two’!


‘I was fortunate enough to enjoy spells at both glentoran and linfield,’ Justin tells pif. ‘I joined glentoran in 1991 when I had just turned 18 and spent eleven very enjoyable years there. During that time we won the league three times and the Irish cup four times, plus we also won various domestic trophies, such as the county Antrim Shield.’


In 2002, however, the now 46-year- old Belfast man moved across the city to sign for the Blues after his contract with glentoran expired.


‘Although I’d enjoyed my years at the oval,’ Justin continues, ‘I unfortunately couldn’t agree a new deal with the glens and I was snapped up by Blues boss, David Jeffrey. ‘obviously, given the nature of the competition between the two clubs, there were some who were dubious about my commitment to my former ‘major rival’, but I was always totally focussed on giving 100 per cent to linfield during my time at windsor park. while I scored a hat- trick on my debut, however, the fact that only a few fans stood up clearly demonstrated the level of rivalry


40 - phARmAcY IN focUS


between the two sets of fans. It was tough enough going, but I enjoyed the two years I spent at the club and, again, we were successful during that time in winning the Irish cup.’


Justin’s football career didn’t end at linfield though. After a further two years playing for Ballymena and then Ards, he retired at 35, and now plays five-a-side soccer to keep himself fit and, as he says, ‘to keep things ticking over’.


today, the affable Belfast man – who is married to fellow Sangers AAh employee, Alison - is dad to three sons: nineteen-year-old Jake, fifteen- year-old Bradley and thirteen-year-old charlie. like many teenagers today, Justin’s boys dream of becoming full- time footballers, but Justin himself has no regrets about his part-time career.


‘I know that it’s every little boy’s dream to make the premiership today,’ he continues, ‘but I can honestly say – hand on heart – that I was happy enough to play on a part- time basis. my timing was just right for the Irish league and I have no regrets about not making the so- called ‘big time’.’


Although Justin enjoyed the years that he spent working as a van driver for Sangers AAh, he knew that his


heart lay in sales and so, after leaving the company for seven or eight years to build up sales experience, he returned to Sangers AAh in 2010 to work on selling and distributing the very successful Seven Seas range across the province.


‘I love what I do on a day-to-day basis in my role for Sangers AAh and I enjoy the daily interaction with community pharmacists and their teams,’ he says. ‘there’s no doubt that today’s community pharmacists have to build relationships with their patients, but it’s equally important for people like myself – both in my then role as a van driver and in my current role as a sales representative – to cultivate good working relationships with them.


‘healthcare today is so much about informing the patient with regard to not only medications but also about self management and the promotion of health and wellbeing that we need to work in close collaboration to ensure that we relay the necessary information to the pharmacist so that he or she can then pass it on to the patient.’


Justin mcBride may have hit the back of the net regularly for his various clubs, but he continues to deliver his successful sales pitch on a daily basis! Result!


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48