For many independent pharmacy owners, the "Sunday Night Rota" is a dreaded weekly ritual. Manually cross-referencing availability, chasing locums, and updating cells in a spreadsheet isn't just tedious—it’s a drain on the leadership energy needed to grow a business.

Tanzil Ahmed, CEO & Co-Founder of Nexus Pharmacy & Health Clinics, knows this struggle all too well. Managing a group of seven pharmacies in Bristol, Tanzil found himself trapped in a cycle of manual admin that was becoming, in his own words, a “pain.”

Today, that process looks very different. By moving away from spreadsheets and onto the Locate a Locum platform, Tanzil has transformed his operations. Here is how he did it.

The Challenge: The Manual Spreadsheet Trap

Before partnering with Locate a Locum, Tanzil managed his entire rotation across seven sites using a legacy spreadsheet template. Every single cell for every single day of the year required manual entry.

• The Time Sink: The process consumed between two to four hours every week.
• The Stress of Sickness: If a staff member called in sick, Tanzil faced days of manual "firefighting" to find cover.
• The Opportunity Cost: As a director of a growing group without a dedicated recruiter, every hour spent on a spreadsheet was an hour taken away from clinical services and profit analysis.

"I can justify the platform cost all day long just by the value of my own time." — Tanzil Ahmed, CEO, Nexus Pharmacy & Health Clinics

The Solution: Proactive Scheduling & Speed

Tanzil didn't need a recruitment agency; he needed a management tool. He used Locate a Locum to digitise his existing relationships and automate his rotation. Key features that changed the game:

• Bulk Scheduling: Tanzil now builds a two-week rotation and duplicates it months in advance, slashing the time spent on future planning.
• Rapid Gap Filling: With a centralised system, emergency shifts that used to take days to fill are now resolved in 30 to 60 minutes.
• Direct Network Control: Tanzil manages his own pool of trusted locums through the platform, keeping the relationships personal but the admin automated.

The Result: Reclaiming Leadership Time

The impact on the business has been measurable and immediate. By reducing his weekly admin from 4 hours down to just 1, Tanzil has achieved a 75% reduction in scheduling workload.

What does a pharmacy director do with an extra three hours a week? For Tanzil, it means moving from being a "pharmacist-manager" to a "business-leader." He now reinvests that time into:

• Clinical Service Growth: Focusing on flu vaccinations and new service pathways.
• Profit Analysis: Reviewing item growth and financial performance across his Bristol sites.
• Work-Life Balance: Eliminating the administrative "firefighting" that used to bleed into his evenings and weekends.

"The Locums I work with are all my own people. But the tool allows me to make sure I’m in control. It’s the time for me which is the biggest perk, because I can then look forward really quickly." — Tanzil Ahmed, CEO, Nexus Pharmacy & Health Clinics

Ready to ditch the spreadsheets?

If you are managing multiple sites and still relying on spreadsheets, you are likely losing hours of high-value time every week. See exactly how Tanzil calculated his ROI and how he uses the platform to stay in control of his 7-site group.

Download the full case study here