Ather and Farhad’s paths followed the same trajectory, from attending the same secondary school to both studying pharmacy at Strathclyde University. Farhad was locumming for Lloydspharmacy when Bruntsfield Pharmacy came up for sale, and suggested to Ather that they buy it together, even though Ather hadn’t finished his training year.  

With no experience of running a bricks and mortar business, but inspired by the examples of family members and the experience gained from locumming, Ather and Farhad decided to buy the pharmacy. Their enthusiasm, energy and vision, combined with a ‘give it a go’ attitude, has led to an award-winning business, bagging the 2026 C+D Pharmacy Team of the Year award.  

Ather and Farhad saw the opportunity to provide a range of new services, and say that trusting each other was crucial to setting up the business.  

With their youth making them unusual business owners, the coverage Ather and Farhad had from C+D when Bruntsfield first opened brought everyone from patients to student pharmacists to come and seek their advice. 

Learning everything about running a pharmacy from scratch, their positive attitudes have helped develop the business, and patients come from across Edinburgh to access their services. The active support Ather and Farhad receive from patients has amazed and delighted them.  

What’s next? 

In the medium to long term, Ather and Farhad are looking at expanding into other areas, though one of their main concerns about a potential future expansion is losing the relationships they have built with their patients from being in the pharmacy every day.