Our History Alliance Healthcare is one of the largest pharmaceutical wholesalers and distributors in Europe. But we didn’t start out that way. Our story begins over 80 years ago in the UK, when the UniChem group was founded in 1938. 1938 Unichem founded by Ernest Skues to serve independent pharmacies. It began with just 100 members 1945 The first Service Centre opens in Tooting, South London – Unichem looks for ways to help make the independent pharmacist’s life easier 1947 First van delivery service is introduced. Today we have over 1,940 vechicles helping to serve our customers across the UK 1960 Nuneaton Service Centre starts trading. 1964 Leeds Service Centre opens 1969 This year sees Unichem convert to a Friendly Society (Co-op) 1972 Wales has it’s own dedicated site with the opening of Swansea Service Centre. 1976 Exeter Service Centre opened. 1977 Alleanza Farmaceutica founded In 1977, the pharmaceutical wholesaler Alleanza Farmaceutica was founded in Italy by Stefano Pessina 1982 Hinckley Service Centre opened 1987 NWOS is founded 1990 Alliance Healthcare opens a new Service Centre at Letchworth 1991 Alliance Santé formed The Alliance Santé group was formed in 1991 by a merger between Alleanza Salute Italia and two French pharmaceutical wholesalers.This year also saw the UK acquire the Moss group, a UK retail chain of pharmacies. 1993 South Normanton Central Service Centre is built to assist the East Midlands. 1994 Newcastle Service Centre opened. 1996 OTC Direct formed 1997 Alliance UniChem formed Following a merge between the UniChem group and Alliance Santé, Alliance UniChem was formed in 1997. 1999 Cavendish pharmaceuticals opened after moving form a small building in Jury Street, Leigh near Manchester 2003 Changing the way the generics medicines industry had operated, the UK launched the Almus brand pioneering high quality generic medicines in functional, patient-safe packaging. 2005 Alliance UniChem acquired the Alloga pan European logistics company to support its growing network plus the Bairds Chemist retail business to become established in Northern Ireland. 2006 Alliance Boots formed In 2006, Boots and Alliance UniChem merged, forming Alliance Boots. 2007 Alphega Pharmacy launches in the UK, capitalising on the success already achieved across Europe 2008 Alliance Healthcare UK expands its portfolio of offerings to both healthcare professionals and healthcare companies by purchasing Central Homecare which later became Alcura. Clinical trials and out sourced patient care are offered as a result. 2009 Alliance Boots rebrand Alliance Boots rebrands as Alliance Healthcare 2011 To support the business growth we open a new central service centre Nottingham. 2014 After the merger of Walgreens and Alliance Boots in 2014, following a strategic partnership in 2012, Walgreens Boots Alliance was formed, creating the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. The UK acquired UDG to support its growing network providing logistics and specialist supply chain solutions to the healthcare sector. 2015 UDG (Unidrug Distribution Group) is rebranded to Alloga UK Ltd and joins the Alloga pan-European network 2016 We expand operations in Northern Ireland with the opening of the Belfast Service Centre. 2017 We expanded our support for Dispensing Doctors through the acquisition of Forte, also the launch of our Service Centre at Coatbridge, Scotland About Us LinkedIn Healthcare Companies Pharmacy Solutions Healthcare Professionals Contact us Standard Terms and Conditions of Sale Website Accessibility Terms of Use Cookies Privacy Covid-19 General Risk Assessment Code of conduct and business ethics Modern slavery and human trafficking Section 172 (1) Statement Statement of Corporate Governance Arrangements Supplier Code of Conduct Copyright © 2020 ALLIANCE UNICHEM IP LIMITED. All rights reserved. Cookies Settings We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies.More Info Cookies Settings OK, I agree