Daytime reliability
Protect contracted pharmacy rounds, handling requirements and capacity. Plan for charging, servicing, absence and a vehicle being unavailable.
Separate, longer-term viability studyCould delivery
Could delivery
pay its own way?
An independent company with contracted pharmacy rounds by day, then separate drivers using the vehicles for local-item deliveries and selected evening takeaway work.
This is shared vehicle use across shifts. Outside jobs are not added to a pharmacy driver’s prescription round.
Start with demand, not a vehicle deal.
Town-wide evening work
Explore small towns with takeaways that do not deliver. A shared service for five takeaways could be more viable than two food orders and one local-item job—but demand must be tested.
Known vehicle costs
Compare three and four cars, an electric car/van mix, maintenance arrangements and a future fleet app. A fourth vehicle may add resilience while carrying overhead even when idle.
| Operation reported by Jon | Working input | Still to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Mossley | About 45 deliveries/day, five days/week; 4–5 paid driver hours/day | Mileage, pay, fully loaded employment cost, vehicles, charges and current delivery budget |
| Congleton | About 40–45/day; occasional busy days around 60 | Owners to validate; establish whether this is a distinct operation from Mossley, whose website address is in Congleton |
| Accrington / other branches | No volume assumed | Exact pharmacy identities, addresses, rounds, staffing and catchments |
Reported workload is not audited demand. Do not count Mossley and another Congleton round twice without owner confirmation.
A future fleet-app concept
Turn assumptions into daily targets.
Edit the inputs to see how turnover, contribution and operating result differ. Defaults are illustrative placeholders, not quotes, contracted prices or a forecast.
Mossley-only workload is entered initially. Selecting three or four vehicles does not invent demand for other pharmacies. Replace the whole-fleet workload and costs before interpreting fleet viability. All amounts use one consistent VAT basis; tax, VAT recovery, start-up cash and loan principal/residual accounting need a separate accountant-reviewed cash-flow model.
How the model calculates the target
Shared overhead/day = (fleet × monthly vehicle, insurance and maintenance costs + admin + downtime reserve) ÷ operating days.
Pharmacy contribution = stops × contract price − total paid hours × loaded labour rate − pharmacy miles × energy rate.
Other contribution = jobs × [price × (1 − fee rate) − incremental miles/job × energy rate] − active vehicles × paid shift hours × loaded labour rate − dead miles × energy rate.
Other jobs for whole-fleet break-even = round up [(shared overhead − pharmacy contribution + other shift labour + dead-mile cost) ÷ other-job contribution before shift labour], with a minimum of zero. Capacity = active vehicles × shift hours × 60 ÷ minutes/job. The target must fit this capacity and actual demand.
Initial evidence · checked 9 October 2026
Sources to ground the next study.
Employment baseline
GOV.UK lists £12.71/hour for workers aged 21+ from April 2026. That is a wage floor, not the total employer cost. Actual pay, holiday cover, pension and employer costs must be confirmed.
GOV.UK wage ratesElectric car offer: caution
Citroën’s published ë-C3 example lists £229/month excluding VAT, but also £1,635.47 initial rental and an £8,042 final payment. Its stated qualifying order period ended 30 September 2026.
Expired reference, not an available deal. Seek a current courier-permitted quote; a headline monthly price alone is not a full vehicle cost.
Manufacturer offer and termsElectric van & maintenance
Renault’s Kangoo E-Tech range and business service plans offer a starting point for quotes. Scheduled servicing is not automatically tyres, every repair or a replacement vehicle.
Ask for a fleet package covering actual mileage, permitted delivery work, wear items and downtime support.
Kangoo E-Tech · Service plansGrants and charging
GOV.UK explains eligible zero-emission vehicle discounts and lists qualifying vans. Check eligibility against the exact vehicle and avoid counting a grant twice when it is already included in a dealer price.
Measure real daily miles, overnight charging access, tariffs, charging losses and evening range before choosing electric cars or vans.
Vehicle grant guidanceInsurance fit
Zego’s delivery information distinguishes ordinary cover and hire-and-reward activities. Its PAYG wording is linked to approved work providers; that does not establish cover for this proposed independent company.
Get written cover confirmation and a fleet quote for pharmacy deliveries, own-contract food/parcel work, multiple shifts and drivers. No premium estimate here is a quote.
Delivery cover information · Provider restrictionsThese are initial research references, not a complete feasibility report or a vehicle recommendation. Dealer offers and policy terms must be rechecked at quotation. Pharmacy handling and vehicle suitability require pharmacy approval.
What a proper viability study still needs.
Owners’ operating figures
- Exact three-branch identities and distinct workloads.
- Pay, mileage, current total delivery cost and budget.
- Contract price and service commitments.
- Parking, charging and current vehicle arrangements.
Local demand evidence
- Choose candidate towns and list interested takeaways.
- Record orders by hour, delivery radii and waiting times.
- Test local-item job frequency and suitable cargo limits.
- Validate staffing, dead mileage and demand peaks.
Separate commercial scenarios
- Three vs four vehicles; pharmacy-only vs mixed work.
- Car vs van; lease vs ownership; EV vs fuel.
- Low, central and high demand with capacity limits.
- Start-up cash, VAT, tax and cash-flow sensitivity.
Future fleet-app scope
Track actual jobs, paid time, mileage, charging/fuel, maintenance, condition, vehicle availability and finance. Compare actual contribution and operating result with planned targets by town, vehicle and shift. This page demonstrates the calculation concept, not a connected fleet system.