Ellis Whittam, one of the UK’s leading fixed fee employment law, HR and health & safety specialists, has been appointed by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) to provide employment law and HR support to its 4,000 members, together owning 12,500 pharmacies, across the UK.

The appointment of Ellis Whittam will give NPA members access to employment law and HR advice and guidance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via telephone, email or online.  The service, which is seen as a key NPA membership benefit, means members will receive guidance, interpretation and advice on the law in important areas such as absence and sickness, contracts of employment, holiday entitlement, disciplinary and grievance procedure as well as flexible working.

The Ellis Whittam team dedicated to supporting NPA members is made up of lawyers and HR experts who have a wealth of experience of dealing with organisations of all types and sizes. The advice offered will be totally confidential, practical and easy to follow and members will be allocated their own highly qualified legal expert who will understand and get to know their pharmacy business and its needs. 

Sue Wiseman, Head of Human Resources from the NPA said; “This is a valuable element of the NPA membership.  We selected Ellis Whittam as they have a great reputation for providing quality support and have industry leading client satisfaction levels.  We hope our members take full advantage of the service offered and build strong and lasting business relationships with their dedicated support team.” 

Mark Ellis, founder and Chairman of Ellis Whittam, comments; “This is a great win for Ellis Whittam and reflects the market leading quality of service provided by the Ellis Whittam Team.”

Deven Thakrar CEO at Ellis Whittam added; “We are proud to be working in partnership with the NPA to provide the best Employment Law & HR support for its members.  We believe the NPA’s decision to work with Ellis Whittam is illustrative of a flight to quality of service in the HR support marketplace, where organisations are increasingly looking to quality of service and the real value that can be added to their organisation, as opposed to just size of provider and cost.

“This is a very exciting time for a business like Ellis Whittam. We are looking forward to providing NPA members with our high quality service and supporting them with their diverse employment law and HR needs.”

The NPA members will also have access to Ellis Whittam’s on-line employment law & HR resource where they can access and download personalised employment law information, staff handbooks and other associated support materials.