ASIAN pharmacy tycoons, Dr Bhikhu Patel and Dr Vijay Patel OBE, last week inaugurated the Waymade Institute of Nursing Sciences at Bhaikaka University, Anand.
The facility was inaugurated last Wednesday (7) in the presence of Patel family who travelled from London to attend the event. HH Jashbhai Sahebji of the Anoopam Mission, which is building the UK’s first Hindu crematorium in Denham, Uxbridge, also attended.
According to a statement, the opening of the institute was the latest chapter in a remarkable story that began in Africa, passed through the streets of Essex, transformed the British pharmaceutical sector, and ultimately returned to India with a mission: to uplift, educate and serve.
The founders of Waymade Group said they hoped the institute will address India’s growing shortage of trained nursing professionals, a challenge highlighted by the World Health Organization, which noted that the country has one of the lowest nurse-to-population ratios in the world.
Initially, the facility will train 265 students across post-graduate, graduate and diploma nursing programmes. There are plans to add another 310 seats, taking the total intake to 575 students in future.
Spread across more than 25,000 square feet, the institute features smart classrooms with wi-fi connectivity, advanced simulation laboratories, nursing foundation and advanced skill labs, community health nursing and nutrition labs, a departmental library, a multi-purpose hall with audio-visual facilities, and modern faculty offices.
The Patel family during the eventWaymade
The Patel brothers also revealed plans to collaborate with Bristol University when it opens its India campus this summer.
“Bristol University has plans to open its India campus, and Waymade will be exploring a collaboration on that project,” Bhikhu, who studied at the university, said.
The University of Bristol received approval last year from the Indian government to establish a campus in Mumbai. Scheduled to open in the summer of 2026, the Mumbai Enterprise Campus will become the university’s first international campus.
The brothers support a four-year PhD programme at the university in collaboration with the British Heart Foundation, providing students with an opportunity to work in cardiovascular research.
Starting with a single pharmacy in a seaside town in Essex in 1975, the Patel brothers went on to build one of the UK’s most successful specialty pharmaceutical businesses, creating wealth that they have consistently channelled into philanthropy across three continents.
Waymade
Born in East Africa, Vijay and Bhikhu Patel faced adversity early. The loss of their father when they were very young forced their mother to raise them single‑handedly, instilling values that would define their lives: discipline, education, self‑reliance and, above all, generosity.
“Whatever qualities we have or do not have come from my mother,” Vijay often reflects. “She always said education was the surest path forward.”
When the family moved to the UK, the brothers arrived with little more than determination and grit. Vijay trained as a pharmacist at what later became De Montfort University in Leicester and, in 1975, opened his first high-street pharmacy, Chemy’s, in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. That modest store would become the foundation of a business empire spanning continents. Bhikhu , who studied architecture at Bristol University, initially pursued his own entrepreneurial ventures before joining his brother in the pharmaceutical sector.
From a single pharmacy, the brothers built a chain of more than 20 outlets before taking a bold step into pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution.
Their ventures reshaped the industry:
• Waymade PLC — a fast‑growing pharmaceutical wholesaler through the 1990s and 2000s.
• Amdipharm — named after Vijay’s sons Amit and Dipen, ultimately sold for £370 million.
• Atnahs Pharma — named after their mother Shanta, revitalising off‑patent medicines and expanding internationally.
• Waymade Capital — the group's global investment arm spanning pharmaceuticals, real estate and private equity.
These achievements placed the brothers among Britain’s most successful Asian entrepreneurs.
In Asian Rich List 2026, published by Eastern Eye, they were ranked 12th, with an estimated combined wealth of £1.5 billion.
Yet wealth, for them, has always been a means to an end — never the end itself. “We are a very frugal family. We ensure we don’t abuse wealth,” Vijay often says. “If you have more than you need, you must share it with others.”
He noted that philanthropy remains a field with growing demand and said the family would “continue to do whatever is needed”.
Through the Shanta Foundation, they support initiatives in health, education and shelter across the UK, India and Africa.
“Whatever qualities we have or don’t have, that is through my mother,” Vijay said, recalling her insistence that education was the surest path forward.
Waymade
