Harcourts and SLIM sign agreement to educate staff

Wednesday, 30 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Harcourts Ltd, one of the most versatile pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetic companies in Sri Lanka with a staff of over 1,000 people signed an MOU with the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing to conduct professional education for their 500 plus marketing and retail staff. Harcourts, who celebrated its 25th year anniversary at the beginning of this year, is today the fifth largest importer of pharmaceuticals in Sri Lanka, the largest nutraceutical company and one of the fastest growing cosmetic companies with more than 500 products in their portfolio. The group has trained more than 10,000 people in the last 25 years and has produced many top CEOs locally and internationally.

Harcourts is also the largest retailer of pharmaceuticals in Sri Lanka with over 30 well equipped pharmacies located all over Sri Lanka. Retailing is an art of its own. It is the most vital point of a distribution channel. It is the point where the end user meets the potential product they buy. It is the place where the consumer feels comfortable with what they buy and the final buying decision is made. Harcourts has revolutionised the pharmaceutical retailing in Sri Lanka with state of the art pharmacies and highly trained people who are fast earning very high level of confidence among the general public. Today it serves at an average 8 to 10,000 prescriptions a day and serves another 10,000 people who walk in to buy their cosmetic and grocery requirements. Speaking at the event Harcourts Group Chairman Ahamed Rheyas said that the market is increasingly becoming complex and if a competitive edge has to be maintained in the business there is no room for trial and error as the cost of error is too high and encouraging more and more staff to be academically qualified will bring a new dimension to the current business status. He also said that traditional methods are now becoming obsolete and professional and scientific approach is the only way a company could survive with the fast changing economic dynamics in the country. He thanked the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing for tailor making the class schedule to suit their staff work requirements which he said is a vital factor today in adult education. The president of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing said that he is extremely pleased to see local companies taking the initiative to encourage and facilitate their staff to take up professional education and would like to see more and more local companies to follow the example set by Harcourts. Sri Lanka Institute of marketing will initially conduct the preliminary certificate of marketing for the junior field staff and will follow with Diploma and post graduate studies for senior and management staff. The classes will be held at the Harcourts Auditorium.