14 Mar 2013
ICON advises theHealthcounter.com on its latest investment from existing investors Day Lewis and the Clark Group.
The Healthcounter is rapidly becoming the provider of choice for online health, wellbeing and complementary products in the UK and is now starting to expand into Europe.
The business is aggressively targeting the health & beauty and prescription market which together are worth £18.5 billion in the UK and £833 billion worldwide.
For the six-month period since August 2012 the company has delivered a ten-fold increase in sales and is on track to deliver a further four-fold increase over the next seven months.
The Healthcounter was initially formed as a joint venture between Ceuta and Day Lewis before demerging to become a separate standalone business when the Clark Group first invested in 2011/2012.
Investors in the Healthcounter’s latest funding round were the Day Lewis Group and the Clark Group.
The Day Lewis Group was founded over three decades ago and has grown from two pharmacies to around 200 making it the largest independent pharmacy chain in Europe.
The Clark Group is a family office with interests in retail, manufacturing and real-estate.
Simon Tucker, CEO of the Healthcounter, who joined the company in July, said: “The growth we’ve achieved so far in the UK is only the start of a much larger international plan. Demonstrating the model in the domestic market was a critical step as the UK is one of the most respected and regulated markets and therefore provides the necessary platform to roll-out internationally.
“As we continue to attract new and existing customers the website acts as a vital portal to build out additional complementary goods and services enhancing the proposition even further.”
Kirit Patel MBE, Founder of Day Lewis said: “We are delighted with the success of the Healthcounter so far and it vindicates our initial view that going online with a trusted brand allows us to provide a wider-offering of complementary goods and services to the market and reach other countries with other languages. The Healthcounter is the perfect platform to meet the growing demand for online prescription delivery by harnessing Day Lewis’ proven dispensing expertise.”
Alan Bristow, CEO of ICON who acted for Healthcounter commented: “The Healthcounter is more than just an online success story – it is fulfilling a much needed void in the market to become a trusted brand that consumers can rely on for their product and service requirements that sit around the health and wellbeing needs of a family. We look forward to carrying on working with the company to ensure their capital structure supports the ambitions of the board as it continues to grow its UK presence and expands further into Europe and elsewhere.”