We want to share the experiences of our remarkable people. Their stories have helped shape our Employer Brand and we want to share their life at work with the world. In this story, we caught up with Lucy Morton-Channon who talked about her past twelve years with Superdrug. From joining as a trainee pharmacist to recently taking up the newly created Head of Environmental, Social and Governance role. Lucy tells us about this exciting new post and how making small changes can have a massive impact on our planet, while keeping our business fit for the future.

"I’ve always had a passion for travel and the possibilities that it brings. The new experiences and opportunities to try new things and challenge myself have always been huge draws for me. Since I started with Superdrug back in 2011 as a trainee pharmacist, I have been fortunate to be given plenty of opportunities to explore different areas of the business and empowered to develop my skills through different experiences.

I qualified as a pharmacist and went straight into different stores as pharmacy manager. Then an opportunity came up at Head Office in Clinical Governance, so I went for it, and that’s been my approach over the last twelve years. I’ve gone for every opportunity I could, expanding my knowledge and skills along the way. From looking after clinical excellence to buying in the Commercial team, to becoming Pharmacy Superintendent, to being promoted to Head of Clinical Excellence."

"In between, I had my children, my daughter, who’s now three and a half and my son, who’s nearly two. There’s a lot that shifts once you’ve become a parent and a lot of juggling involved, however, the business is so supportive. After having my children, I felt like I was ready to try something different again and I’ve recently taken an opportunity outside the Healthcare team in a newly created role as Head of ESG, which is an exciting opportunity to expand my skills in a fascinating area, that’s vital to the business and the planet."

"As Head of ESG my role is to drive our Sustainability roadmap and strategy, under the banner, Doing Good Feels Super. What’s interesting is that prior to taking the job and due to Sustainability being such widely talked about and emotive topic, I had my own perceptions on what may be involved. However, there’s so much more to it than I could have imagined. This is something that encompasses every part of the business, from greenhouse gas emissions and recycling to responsible ingredients and packaging for our products, to people development, human rights and diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s a huge area and I’m learning so much all the time." 

"What’s heartening is the level of commitment Superdrug and AS Watson have to Sustainability which goes beyond policy and process. This strategy is about a complete mindset shift to a core belief about what we do and who we are. Doing good for our planet, our people and with our products and putting Sustainability at the heart of every action and decision in our day-to-day jobs, to make a real impact on the world and create a better future for everyone.

Sustainability is something that’s important for all of us. And it’s the little things we do each day that will make a difference. We have a lot of great champions in the business already, and our plan for 2024 is to share our vision and really embed this daily Sustainability mindset into our culture, so that it becomes second nature in everything we do."

"I’ve been with the business for over a decade now and I’ve seen a lot of changes in that time, both professionally and personally. But as my life has changed, the business has supported me through those changes while encouraging me to continue to grow and develop with new opportunities. Helping with little things that make an everyday difference for me and my family, like being able to work four days a week from Monday to Thursday, to give me that concentrated time to focus on getting my teeth into projects at work, and the balance of a good three-day weekend with the kids."

"Something that really strikes me as remarkable about this business, is that you can be in a room with ten people and a lot of them have been working here for, ten, twenty, even thirty years. It is refreshing to see that in such a big business, people can work here for many years and still feel encouraged to progress and be genuinely enjoying it. I think this speaks volumes about the culture. This is somewhere where you’ll never be bored, and you’ll be empowered to explore new opportunities. You just need to go for it!"