A BELFAST software firm has designed a website to help pharmacies across the UK find locum pharmacists at short notice to help cover leave or staff illness.
Locum Match Ltd’s website helps pair hundreds of pharmacists around the UK with over 8,000 pharmacies and the company has already secured business with the UK’s four largest pharmacy chains; Boots, Well, Rowlands and Lloyds.
As part of a three year growth strategy the company is creating new jobs and moving to a fully online service through its mobile app and website.
Invest NI has offered the company £200,418 of support towards creating the 16 jobs in research & development (R&D) and marketing.
Commenting on the investment Invest Northern Ireland’s Eastern Regional Manager, Moira Loughran said: “Locum Match has developed impressive software that is making it a key player in the UK’s medical recruitment market. In a commitment to growth it is working with Invest NI to support it to create new jobs, invest in R&D and undertake marketing activity to grow business in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.”
Jonny Clarke from Locate a Locum, who runs the business with co-founder Michael Budden, said: “The idea for our software came from my experience as a locum pharmacist trying to source work when I left university. I developed a website to advertise myself as a locum, which has now grown into a business which offers pharmacists the opportunity to find work with some of the biggest pharmacy brands in the UK and Ireland.
“This week, we will launch an app version of our website. It is a simple in your pocket tool which we hope will appeal to busy pharmacists across the country.
“With Invest NI’s support for R&D we intend to take our website and mobile app to the next stage of development and create a more efficient and friendly user experience. We also plan to grow both our in-house technical team and management team which will enable us to concentrate on winning new business.
“Our aim over the next three years is to have the largest pool of locums in the UK registered on our website.”