Pharmacy maverick George Tambassis outlines pitch for Blackmores

George Tambassis say he has the skills to help Blackmores grow its business domestically and internationally.

George Tambassis is ringing Blackmores shareholders to win support for his board bid. Picture: Kym Smith

George Tambassis is adopting the same strategy that catapulted him to become president of the powerful Pharmacy Guild in his bid to be elected to the board of Blackmores.

Phone calls to thousands of pharmacists across Australia ­fuelled his ascendancy to the guild’s highest office – a job that involved receiving regular calls from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt.

Now he is picking up his handset to call Blackmores investors, explaining why they should elect him to the board of the $1.8bn vitamins and supplements company.

It is a relentless task, made more difficult after Blackmores chairman Anne Templeman-Jones rejected his bid, putting herself on a collision course with the company’s biggest and namesake shareholder, Marcus Blackmore.

But Mr Tambassis – who stepped down from the guild, which is feared by both sides of politics, in March after more than seven years in the top job – knows how effective a personal touch can be.

“That’s how you become national president of the guild,” Mr Tambassis told The Australian during a break from administering Covid-19 vaccinations at his pharmacy on Monday.

“You are not appointed. You have to get the members to vote for you, so I’m more than happy to talk to shareholders.”

Mr Tambassis has submitted his own nomination for election to Blackmores’ board – a move Ms Templeman-Jones is urging shareholders to vote against, baffling Mr Blackmore, who owns about one-fifth of the company.

Mr Blackmore, who has never asked for a board nominee since stepping down as a director last October, is now threatening to vote against Ms Templeman-Jones at Blackmores’s annual meeting later this month, potentially derailing her election to her first public company chairmanship.

Ms Templeman-Jones’s decision has also put her at odds with Blackmores’s biggest customer, Chemist Warehouse, which supports Mr Tambassis’ nomination, saying his pharmacy and retail acumen would aid the company’s transformation.

Mr Tambassis failed to get shortlisted by the executive search firm, understood to be Egon Zehnder, that Ms Templeman-Jones engaged to find five board nominees.

Mr Tambassis, a pharmacist and director of Priceline owner and pharmacy wholesaler, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries, said he received little feedback as to why he was knocked back and found the search and interview process “surprising”.

“I was abruptly told that I didn’t make it, that I didn’t quite nail it – what sort of feedback is that? It didn’t make any sense,” Mr Tambassis said.

“The AGM notice says something like they didn’t have a chance to check my bio. Well, that’s a bit of a furphy. They had plenty of time to check my bio. The executive search company that was given the job to facilitate interviews interviewed me back in February.

“And one of the roles of national president (of the Pharmacy Guild) is that you are the spokesperson. I was obviously in the media a little bit, so I was a little bit taken aback when they put that in the AGM notice. It might be some sort of pro-forma they use – I don't know – but it was surprising.

“For Egon Zehnder to not check my bio or do due diligence on me, I don’t understand how that works.”

But what Mr Tambassis does understand is pharmacy – and “what Blackmores’ customers’ customers want’’.

“I believe I can make a difference at the Blackmores board. I believe my experience in terms of actually running pharmacies for 35 years will give them an insight in terms of not just what the customers want, but the customers’ customers want. I mean, I’m in my pharmacy vaccinating right now. I’m just taking a break. I have a fair idea of what customers’ issues are, what the risks are, what their competitors are doing.

“I certainly know a little bit about supply chain because I’m also on the API board, so I know the issues or headwinds that might be coming up for Blackmores in terms of how to get their medicines out to retailers like my pharmacy or Chemist Warehouse or Priceline Pharmacies.

“I have a fair idea about what their strategies are going overseas.

“I’ve done a lot of work with the sister organisations to the Pharmacy Guild around the world, so I have a fair idea of what pharmacies want overseas. That’s one of the benefits of being president of the Pharmacy Guild. When I was president they sent you overseas a lot to study how pharmacies work in other jurisdictions.”

But importantly, and this a big part of winning Mr Blackmore’s support, Mr Tambassis is well-versed in Australia’s regulatory environment for pharmacy goods.

“Whether it’s the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) or whatever area Blackmores wants to be in, they have to abide by the regulations.

“Pharmacists have got so many regulations that it’s not funny, so that’s just a natural area for me.”

And despite not winning Ms Templeman-Jones’ recommendation, Mr Tambassis said he could work with Blackmores’ board, saying he knew most of the members. “I think my skills will be complementary,” he said.

In the notice of AGM, Ms Templeman-Jones said: “The board recognises that robust and effective corporate governance and risk management are key to our ability to deliver on our purpose and strategy.

“To support management in delivery of strategic goals and ensure the board has appropriate diversity of skills, knowledge and experience, the board has undertaken a robust renewal process to appoint five new directors.

“Having considered Mr Tambassis’ skills and experience, along with the other factors set out above, the board has recommended that shareholders vote against his election.”