Phoenix takes its medicine with Cegedim win

Managed services player beats tough competition to snag three-year contract with pharmacy market specialist

Comeback kid Phoenix has bagged a three-year deal to become the preferred supplier for Cegedim Rx, a software and services specialist for the UK pharmacy market.

Under the deal, for an unnamed sum, Phoenix will deliver a fully outsourced and tailored managed hardware support service to 3,500 Cegedim customers across 4,000 UK pharmacies and shops.

London-listed Phoenix has staged a fightback after a tumultuous few years, with new chief executive Steve Vaughan leading a recovery, and the firm recently issuing an upbeat trading update.

The Cegedim deal will include break-fix, service desk, remote support and logistics management, helping pharmacies to save money and improve their IT services.

Commenting on the win, Vaughan said: "The new contract win with Cegedim Rx demonstrates our ability to design, build and manage essential IT solutions to ensure customers' most business-critical services are running wherever and whenever they want to be. In a world where everything is connected and moving at increasing speed, Phoenix provides dynamic end-to-end solutions that can host services in the cloud, simplify desktop management, and build secure, reliable networks."

He added: "With Cegedim Rx, we recognised some initial challenges and therefore recommended a more tailored approach which aims to deliver services and solutions designed to empower Cegedim Rx’s customers, to improve and optimise day-to-day operational tasks, reduce risk and control costs."

And he hinted that business was strong for Phoenix: "We have seen a strong pipeline of contract wins in the first few months of 2015 and I look forward to replicating this success going forward."

Caroline Hopkins of Cegedim Rx added: "We will do whatever it takes to serve our clients to the highest possible standards. We recognised that we needed a solution that would provide a high-quality, nationwide service in an efficient and effective way. We look forward to working with Phoenix and giving our clients the very best experience."