A long-established Somerset pharmacy has had its first major makeover since it opened more than 20 years ago.

Sheryl Martins, who has co-owned Caesar’s Pharmacy with husband Rotimi since it opened, said: “There haven’t been any major changes at all so it was time for a refit.”

Ms Martins brought in a design expert from Scotland to supervise the alterations at the store in Somerset Road, Sandys, which now includes a private consultation room.

The pharmacy has also installed a mini-elevator to transport deliveries to an upper floor for pricing, which means staff no longer have to carry heavy boxes upstairs or clutter up the pharmacy floor as they price and sort items.

Ms Martins, a qualified pharmacist, said: “Pharmacy is evolving and pharmacy consultation, where we can talk to clients one on one in a private environment, is the new wave.

“We really wanted an area where we could have professional consulting services — it’s definitely the way things are going.

“It’s a place where we can talk to people about their medication and healthy lifestyle choices.”

Ms Martins added: “We will be able to set up general wellness programmes for people — that was the main impetus for this, in addition to refreshing the store.”

She added: “We decided some time ago that we needed to renovate — we wanted to make things easier for staff.

“And, in addition to a fresh new look, it’s good for our clientele. We hope it will be more inviting for our customers to come in.

“Before, everything was on the floor and we would be doing pricing on the floor. This way, big orders come in upstairs using a dumb waiter which takes the boxes upstairs where they are priced and brought downstairs so the floor it tidy at all times.”

The pharmacy, in addition to private consultations, will also offer blood pressure testing daily and blood sugar level monitoring on a regular basis.

Ms Martins said: “We have enlarged the toy area so things can be displayed better. And we will be doing specials and a loyalty card, which will start just before Christmas.

“Times are hard and we want to help people out as much as we can.”

The new-look pharmacy, which employs two pharmacists, a pharmacy technician, four full-time staff and two part-time weekend workers, features bright shades of blue, green and white.

Ms Martins said: “It’s bright colours because bright colours are inviting.”

She added: “We have had very positive comments so far — everybody seems to like it and they have said it’s good we’re putting something back into the community.

“We are thankful for everyone’s support over 20 years and we’re just giving back.”

Ms Martins said: “The recession has affected us somewhat. People find it challenging, particularly with the cost of their medications. But we decided to do this anyway because it needed to be done.”

She added that the main change she had seen in 20 years was an increase in prescription medicines.

“People are also much more health conscious, but at the other extreme, other people are not doing so well with lifestyle-related problems.”