First Lady Of Alliance Boots Uk – The Biography Of Ornella Barra

Ornella Barra has been responsible for wholesale and commercial affairs within Alliance Boots and a Board member of the Company since its creation in July 2006. Previously she was an Executive Director of Alliance UniChem, having been appointed to its Board in 1997 when Alliance Santé merged with Alliance UniChem. Before that, she was a Director of Alliance Santé and General Manager of Alleanza Salute Italia. She is a pharmacist by profession and was recently appointed as a special professor at the University of Nottingham's School of Pharmacy.

Ornella Barra, as Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Wholesale Division of the Alliance Boots conglomerate, is one of the few women to have made it into Britain's senior boardrooms. The 51-year-old Italian initially trained as a pharmacist at Genoa University and went on to get a job at a local pharmacy. From a family of entrepreneurs, she struck a deal with her parents to buy her own pharmacy in nearby Lavagna, which grew into a thriving regional drugs distribution business.

In 1986, Ornella Barra made her first major move in the pharmaceutical industry when the business was sold to Alleanza Salute Italia, a rival distributor. Ornella Barra joined ASI as managing director and quickly became a trusted lieutenant of Stefano Pessina, who founded the business and was conducting a spending spree across southern Europe.

Alliance Boots, was formed following the merger of a pan-European company, Alliance UniChem Plc, and a British company, Boots Group PLC. Whilst the creation of Alliance Boots was billed as a "Merger" it was technically an acquisition of Alliance UniChem PLC by the larger Boots Group PLC, which then renamed itself "Alliance Boots".

In 2009, Ornella Barra continues in her role as Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Wholesale Division.

By: McGurt

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