The business behind an online pharmacy company has secured a £12m investment.
Skelmersdale-based Chemist4U has been backed by Pitalia Capital in Bolton.
The business is part of JCCO Healthcare, which also includes the weight management platform myBMI.
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John Davies, managing partner of Pitalia Capital, will join the board following the investment.
The firm is an equity investment company funded by Anil Pitalia, founder of SpaMedica, and specialises in healthcare and manufacturing.
Chemist4U recently acquired a c40,000 sq ft property in Skelmersdale to centralise its operations and plans to increase its workforce from 120 to 150 in the next 18 months.
The company added that it is on track to increase its turnover from £22.5m to £29m for the year to the end of September.
James O'Loan, chief executive of both Chemist4U and myBMI, said: "Our plan is for Chemist4U to become one of the biggest NHS dispensing facilities in the country as well as support partners with our outsourced dispensing services which is our fastest growing division.
"We are trying to digitalise NHS, over-the-counter and private medicine provisions.
"When your doctor writes a prescription it will come to us electronically and we can automatically ship it out to you from our warehouse with next day delivery, with the whole journey tracked on the Chemist4U app.
"It means you can order and receive a prescription without leaving your home simply by using our app.
"We already have automation in place. The new premises will allow us to expand the robotics, centralise the dispensing and bring a really efficient process to customers and partners."
Chief operating officer Ricardo Laverty added: "We've had plenty of investor interest but because we were profitable we didn’t feel the need to rush.
"Anil was assisting us with acquiring the property in Skelmersdale and wanted to get on board as an investor to turbocharge the growth.
"As soon as I met Anil I really connected with him. He’s a healthcare professional like myself and he has already been hugely successful with SpaMedica."
Anil Pitalia, head of Pitalia, said: "James and Ricardo have done an incredible job and are a very entrepreneurial and innovative team.
"They've really embraced technology. To be able to get your medication delivered to your doorstep the next day without having to go to another pharmacy is hugely convenient and efficient. We see huge growth potential.
"In terms of myBMI, they are already leaders in this field and it’s an area where they see they can add a lot of value, particularly on the NHS side when trying to tackle the obesity crisis."
John Davies, managing partner at Pitalia Capital, added: "The margins in the pharmacy sector are so tight that some pharmacies are failing.
"The only way to make it financially viable is through the diversification of the service/product offering and automation at higher volumes, and C4U now has the infrastructure and fire power to deliver this at a significant scale."
Paul Medlicott of Addleshaw Goddard advised JCCO Healthcare while James Kennedy of Cowgills and Jonathan Gillow of Hill Dickinson acted for Pitalia Capital.
Other advisors in the deal included Alex Hall and Sonia Hands at Claritas Tax; Jenny Kirkham and Lucas Thornley at Cortus; Gareth Elliott at PMSI Strategy; Paul Cook at º£½ÇÊÓƵGlobal Risk Solutions.
