PROPOSED MERGER
Members and Associate Members
tWo BodIES… onE voIcE d
aS coMMUnIty PharMacy northErn IrEland (cPnI) and thE UlStEr chEMIStS’ aSSocIatIon (Uca) ProPoSE a MErgEr, PIf looKS at hoW thE rESUltIng Body WIll StrEngthEn PharMacy In gEnEral and BEnEfIt Both organISatIonS In PartIcUlar.
uring his President’s speech at the recent Pharmacy in focus awards and President’s
Ball, cliff McElhinney spoke about how one of his goals during his presidency was to improve the working relationships that the Uca had with other pharmacy bodies in northern Ireland.
‘When I took up the role of Uca president what quickly became clear to me,’ he said, ‘was that contractors wanted onE voice. they wanted a uniform response from their negotiating, trade and representative bodies.’
now it appears that this ‘one voice’ is a step closer with cliff’s announcement that, following positive preliminary discussions, a merger between Uca and cPnI has been proposed.
‘In the current economic climate - and with members’ interests in mind,’ cliff continued, ‘the Uca executive entered into discussions with cPnI. those discussions led to a proposal to seek a merger of the two bodies: a strategy, which was unanimously
8 - PharMacy In focUS
endorsed by the Uca executive committee and also, separately, by the cPnI board. a Special general Meeting was held at which Uca members voted to allow the executive committee to negotiate this merger on their behalf. I am delighted to say that those negotiations are ongoing and I believe a successful outcome will bring great strength to contractors within the community pharmacy network.’
Everyone involved in nI pharmacy knows about the difficulties facing
pharmacists and professional bodies alike. the Uca was not immune to these difficulties and, despite the fact that it had provided value to its members for 115 years, it was also cognisant of the fact that it needed to continue with a healthy balance sheet.
Initial process to address the situation, the Executive committee appointed a sub-committee to explore future options and they reported back with a number of options to explore. a
sub-committee of cliff McElhinney, Stephen Slaine, dr terry Maguire and Edel McMahon held very positive discussions with cPnI and, from the outset, both parties could clearly see the benefit of having one voice.
not only would it facilitate the preservation of the legacy of Uca’s 115 years in existence, but a merger would also ensure mutual collaboration and enable both organisations to carry out activities that the other was unable to do.
Stephen Slaine, Julianne Wilkinson and Una O’Farrell-Feeny
How this proposed merger will work a basic framework has been drawn up which will be subject to further discussion. cPnI will be a single shareholder in Uca ltd. four Uca Executive members will be invited to sit on the cPnI board with full voting rights and Uca ltd will have its own four-person Board comprising two Uca Executive members and two cPnI-appointed board members. there will be a three-year transition period after which Board Members will be rotated according to normal company rules.
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