Chemist hangs up his white coat after 30 years

Chemist hangs up his white coat after 30 years

by Robert Lloyd

One of Llanelli’s longest-serving and best-known pharmacists has hung up his white coat and retired.

Hywel Evans has spent more than 30 years working in Llanelli.

Mr Evans qualified as a pharmacist in July, 1972, so has notched up a remarkable 40 years as a registered pharmacist.

He worked for Boots Chemists for 10 years before launching his own business.

Together with his wife Margaret, he bought the West End Pharmacy in Llanelli from Vince and Mair Blackmore in 1982.

Mr Evans opened a new pharmacy in Machynys in 1997 to serve patients of the Machynys surgery – a branch of the Ty-Elli Surgery in Vauxhall. In 2003, he moved the West End business to the nearby Vauxhall site.

Mr Evans said: “Running a pharmacy is a very competitive business. Patients could have patronised any pharmacy in the town and I am grateful that they placed their trust and confidence in us. We hope that we were able to reward that trust and confidence by offering a dedicated and professional service. We have been very fortunate to have excellent staff to support and enable us to provide this service.

Margaret and I have had 30 happy years working in Llanelli and have made many friends along the way. We have also been very fortunate in having a core of regular and faithful patients and customers and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank them for their trust, support and loyalty over the years. Even though we are now looking forward to our retirement I know that we will miss both the staff and customers very much.”

Both the Machynys and Ty-Elli pharmacies will continue as normal, with the same pharmacists and staff.

The new owner, Mo Nazemi, qualified as a pharmacist from Cardiff University, staying on to do a Phd in pharmacy before deciding to enter general practice pharmacy and purchase his own pharmacies.

Mr Evans, a patron and keen Llanelli Scarlets supporter, is looking forward to becoming a ‘full-time’ rugby supporter in his retirement.