National awards for New Norfolk pharmacy

New Norfolk Guardian Pharmacy co-owner Bel Bird, left, with
brand ambassador Dr Cindy Pan at the Sigma Conference.

NEW Norfolk's "top chemist" has been named Guardian Pharmacy of the Year at the 2014 Sigma Retail Conference awards held on the Gold Coast recently. Staff member Nicole Lawrence was named National Guardian Pharmacy Assistant of the Year at the same event.

"The Sigma conference notched up its biggest ever record attendance, with our Amcal, Amcal Max and Guardian members coming together to collectively discuss the industry, understand our strategic direction, and to celebrate our successes," Sigma chief operating officer Gary Dunne said.

The three-day conference culminated in a gala awards night where members were recognised for excellence, including the New Norfolk pharmacy and Mrs Lawrence. Other awards included the Amcal Pharmacy of the Year, National Retail Manager of the Year, and Pharmacy Leader of the Year. The national awards follow the pharmacy's win in the state awards last September, at which time staff member Janelle Maw was named Guardian's Tasmanian retail manager of the year.

Nicole Lawrence's name up in lights.
Congratulations!

“We had a big front-of-shop window devoted to our trifecta for the state awards,” Mrs Lawrence said “The girls blew up a photo of me and stuck that in the window too, above our trophies and certificates. We had a photo up on our Facebook page, and the local blog site had an article. It was all quite exciting!”

Mr Dunn said the success of the Guardian pharmacy in New Norfolk could be attributed to its knowledgeable and dedicated staff. "They have set high standards in providing the best customer service, community interaction, and overall consistent health services to people in the area," he said.

Mrs Lawrence said children were her favourite customers. "I have a bit of a special rapport with them," she said. "I get high-fives from the kids, sometimes they bring me flowers, and even little paintings they have done for me at school! I feel for them when they are dragged into the pharmacy by their parents and have to wait around for something that doesn't interest them, or worse, are feeling sick themselves. We keep crayons and paper for them in a corner, and I like to make them feel a bit spoilt while they are in here.”

Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd is a pharmacy wholesaler and owner of the Amcal and Guardian retail brands. New Norfolk's Guardian Pharmacy is co-owned by Gil Thomas and Bel Bird.