AAH Pharmaceuticals
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

AAH Pharmaceuticals Limited is a pharmaceutical wholesaler in the United Kingdom. Originally formed in 1892 as a company selling solid fuels in South Wales, it was floated on the stock exchange in 1923. It diversified into pharmaceuticals in the 1970s. The company at one time was the leader in distributing drugs in the United Kingdom, have a 40% share in 2009.


History

AAH originated in 1892, when Cleeves Company was formed in Wales, owning about 7,000 acres of land. It merged with two local companies, Gurnos and Gellveeidrim, to form Amalgamated Anthracite
Collieries Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...
Limited. The formation of Amalgamated Anthracite and competitor United Anthracite in 1923 marked the end of an era of small firms in the Welsh coal industry. As of 1928, Amalgamated Anthracite had become the dominant coal producer in Wales, controlling about 75% of production capacity by 1933. In the 1930s, Amalgamated Anthracite was unusual in selling coal through its own agents rather than through coal brokers. In 1954, it was agreed to change the company name to Amalgamated Anthracite Holdings Limited (AAH). In early 1971 the company abbreviated its name to AAH Limited. The company diversified after the collapse of English coal production in the 1920s to include health services, building materials, transport, warehousing and environmental services (landscape conservation and waste disposal). The
Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
of the company in the 1920s was
Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, PC, FRS, DL (23 October 1868 – 27 December 1930), known as Sir Alfred Mond, Bt between 1910 and 1928, was a British industrialist, financier and politician. In his later life he became an active Z ...
, and the firm was floated on the Stock Exchange on 29 June 1923, having been registered as a public company on 16 June 1923. The registered office was 29/30 King Street,
Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 road, A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St Martin's Le Grand with Poultry, London, Poultry. Near its eas ...
, London. Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Limited held its first company meeting on 5 September 1923 at the Cannon Street Hotel. From mid-1925 to at least the end of 1926, all coal mining activities in England had ceased, resulting in major financial problems for the industry. This was a driving force behind the eventual merger with United Anthracite Collieries Limited. On 1 July 1927, the company merged with United to become known as A.A.C Anthracite, based at 120
Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...
. In 1976, AAH sold off its interests in fuel and building materials. Healthcare services became the company's main business activity. AAH expanded its pharmaceutical interest by taking over a large number of businesses including Chemists Holding and Hills Pharmaceuticals. AAH Limited became a constituent company of AAH Holdings in 1981, based in London. In 1985 the headquarters of AAH Holdings plc moved to the south of Lincoln. By the late 1980s, when based in Lincoln, the holding company was turning over , though the turnover for the pharmaceutical section was only in the range of . In 1985 AAH acquired pharmaceutical wholesaler Vestric Limited from Glaxo P.L.C., which continued the company's growth and led to the formation of AAH Pharmaceuticals Limited. As of 1990, the firm's Chairman was Dr. Peter Worling. In 1991, AAH arranged to distribute drugs marketed by ICI to hospitals in Britain, while ICI retained distribution logistics to pharmacies in the country. In 1999 the headquarters moved to
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, where it remains as of 2023. As of late 2000, the company was referred to as "the British wholesale and distribution arm of ... Gehe AG". By 2007, the company was "part of the German drug wholesaler Celesio". AAH entered into a partnership with
Alliance Boots Alliance Boots was a multinational pharmacy-led health and beauty group with corporate headquarters in Bern, Switzerland and operational headquarters in Nottingham and Weybridge, United Kingdom. The company had a presence in over 27 countries ...
in 2007 for exclusive
distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...
of
AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () (AZ) is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, UK. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...
products in the United Kingdom, activities slated to begin in 2008. This deal, alongside
Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...
's contemporaneous drug distribution deal with Unichem, was controversial and came under UK government scrutiny. AAH had in the 1990s been sole distributor of drugs from ICI Pharmaceuticals, a predecessor of AstraZeneca. In April 2022, McKesson's UK businesses – including LloydsPharmacy, the wholesaler AAH, and a travel health service – were purchased by the Aurelius Group.


Branches

The AAH group has several branches. The Enterprise branch sells health and beauty products to over 5,000 independent pharmacies in the UK. The Trident branch is a shortline supplier to independent pharmacies in the UK. It has 14 depots around the UK including locations in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Scotland and Northern Ireland."AAH Branch Locations". AAH Pharmaceuticals. http://www.aah.co.uk/locations. Retrieved 30 October 2012


See also

*
List of pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United Kingdom This is a list of manufacturers and suppliers of Drug, pharmaceuticals with operations in the United Kingdom. Note: the activities of the parent companies of many of the companies listed below are not restricted solely to the United Kingdom. For e ...


References


Further reading

* **See also 1992
Vol 2, page 4
and 1991
Vol 2, page 4
*Records of Annual General Meetings of the Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries, Limited ** ** **


External links


AAH

Celesio UK
*


Video clips



{{coord, 52.435227, -1.434435, dim:300_region:GB-COV, display=title 1923 establishments in England Manufacturing companies based in Coventry Companies based in Lincoln, England Pharmaceutical companies established in 1923 Pharmaceutical companies of England