What does the impact of corporate wellness programmes and natural remedies have on personnel health and business performance? Kevin Leivers, Managing Director of one of the South’s most innovative new healthcare companies, The Naked Pharmacy, discusses

As the MD of a company that is growing rapidly, Kevin understands the impact that his own health and the health of his employees has on the performance of his business. 

The Naked Pharmacy is a small but growing team so just one absence due to illness has a knock-on effect to all areas including families, finances and work deadlines, and time for personal wellness often takes a back seat too. One ill body/mind system can knock you off your feet – the immune system can be affected with repeated colds and flu, poor cardiovascular health can lead to high blood pressure, an out of balance nervous system can trigger anxiety/depression and musculoskeletal problems can lead to joint pain with a loss of mobility.

Kevin Leivers hails from a background in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. Beginning at the age of 16 with Boots Research, he worked with Dr John Nicholson who was part of the team that discovered Ibuprofen. He then went on to be Chief Pharmacist for a Swiss herbal pharmaceutical company for 11 years.

In 2016 he set up The Naked Pharmacy as the first 100% natural pharmacy in Europe providing herbal, food-based medicines and pharmaceutical grade supplements known as nutraceuticals. 

He says: “Experience has shown me that food and nutrition are fundamental drivers for wellness and that natural remedies facilitate the body’s pathways to work more effectively and safely.

“We had a recent customer who is a typical example. His illness started in his 30s with a viral infection which spiralled so much he was unable to work. When he came to us for help, he was taking four ibuprofen three times a day and two paracetamol three times a day. He was also feeling exhausted, very low, his symptoms were getting worse and the prescriptions from his GP were not working. When I first spoke to him, he couldn’t walk more than a few hundred yards.”

Kevin advised him to take Natruflex, a high strength turmeric to reduce his reliance on painkillers, black garlic for his cardiovascular health, and Saffrosun, a saffron supplement to lift his mood. Six weeks later he had stopped taking painkillers, his mental health had significantly improved, and he had been able to resume work.

Companies and employees are realising that proactive healthcare is much more sustainable in the long term as opposed to sitting and waiting for illness to strike. Alongside this there is increasingly persuasive scientific evidence on foods in proven strengths and the benefits that they give to mental and physical symptoms.

With The Naked Pharmacy your workforce can have a one-to-one consultation with a pharmacist to ward off potential issues before they become chronic, or you can treat an existing illness naturally and without side ef- fects before it snowballs into a much bigger issue.

Natural solutions guaranteed with The Naked Pharmacy:

• Effective dose - the correct level of active ingredients for them to be effective (high potency) 

• Full spectrum - the full range of active ingredients rather than a single isolated active - for example, 15 curcuminoids vs 1 curcumin in our turmeric supplement, and Natruflex is combined with black pepper to aid absorption 

• Evidence based - all based on independent, human clinical research 

• 100% Natural - pure, natural food extracts free from side effects

• Customer support from our Pharmacists - professional, honest and transparent advice from a  team of pharmacists on the safe and effective natural solutions

• Sustainable manufacturing practises – Fairtrade, organic and suitable for vegans and vegetarians

Kevin continues: “We invested a lot into research and formulation before we made the first product batches, so we knew we had the proper clinical research to demonstrate effectiveness.

“A couple of months after we launched Saffrosun, I spoke to a practitioner about a  client who had chronic anxiety. After taking the saffron he felt an immediate release from his symptoms and felt able to cycle for the first time in years. Two years later this client is working again and has now started his own business. We have so many of these case studies which I find inspiring and humbling.”

In 2018 Kevin was named ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Surrey & Hampshire Business Awards, along with being selected as the ‘Natural Pharmacy of the Year 2018’.

“I want to make a real difference which was why I got into pharmacy in the first place. Even though conventional drugs are the right approach for some conditions, I saw that many health problems are driven by diet and lifestyle where natural solutions are a better choice.”

The Naked Pharmacy products are currently available through 120 retail pharmacies and health stores in the South East or online at www.thenakedpharmacy.com.