Pharmacies are teaming up with a Cumbrian company to offer their customers COVID-19 home testing and travel certificates for trips abroad.
Dalston Pharmacies – which has four branches in and around Carlisle – is already selling test kits supplied by Circular 1 Health.
Other chemists shops across Cumbria are also coming on board, including Urwin Cumbria Ltd’s branches in Seaton, Seacliffe and Mirehouse and J Cowper Chemists in Penrith.
Circular 1 Health was founded in March of last year by Stuart MacLennan.
Based at Warwick Bridge, near Carlisle, it employs 220 staff and operates seven testing laboratories at sites including Sellafield, Barrow-in-Furness, Manchester and Guildford.
Mr MacLennan said: “With the vaccination programme making great progress and a clear roadmap out of the pandemic now in place, people’s thoughts are returning to more regular life activities like booking holidays and socialising with friends and family once social distancing restrictions are eased.
“This partnership we’ve developed with pharmacies, which we’re looking to expand, is a great way for people to get the required COVID tests with travel certificates which they can easily buy at the pharmacies who have signed up with us.
“They can then just return them in one of the touch free collection units there knowing that these will go straight to one of our labs and get their test results and certificates the next day without any worry.”
