Christie & Co recently released their yearly market review for the Pharmacy industry. A full copy of the review is available to view at the bottom of this article. In this post I am giving some of my own views off the back of the various aspects of the review. (ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN)
Community Pharmacy has seen spectacular change over the past 12-18 months ranging from the entire Lloyds Pharmacy estate being sold through to smaller batches of pharmacies being sold by Boots, Well and Rowlands too! It has been an interesting time for all involved in community pharmacy, even if you didn’t opt to buy one of these units. The market has changed and I suspect it will continue to change moving forward too.
Lloyds Pharmacy Demise…
The Lloyds Pharmacy exit was one that sent shockwaves through the Pharmacy market, but was this a good thing for Pharmacy? Speaking from my own opinion I have to say I think it was an incredible opportunity for Pharmacy overall.
The move rightfully saw the independent multiples snap up a huge chunk of the estate and this even saw some new independent multiples enter the market through this opportunity. By doing so it allowed the previously tired pharmacies to see a new lease of life injected into the community and in turn also allowed the team members to be nurtured and supported to achieve this.
For me though, the even better outcome for community pharmacy has been that first time buyers being given an opportunity to enter the world of ownership having previously found it difficult to raise a deposit that meets the banks strict criteria for lending. This now sees a new era for pharmacy where these first time buyers in time will be in a position to grow having built their first pharmacy positively. By having new blood in these pharmacies the communities across the UK have someone eager to make a good impression and bed into the community they have taken a pharmacy in. This can only be good for pharmacy moving forward and will see an even stronger appreciation for the hard work and support community pharmacy give to communities.
Employment Challenges
The Christies review covers the average locum rates being seen across the UK which are provided by Locate A Locum, but I wanted to cover a different angle on the employment challenges.
Pharmacy is an extremely demanding yet rewarding profession to be in, but with much of our funding being provided by the NHS via our negotiated deals this brings its own challenges for community pharmacy owners. Minimum wage increases have been steep in 2024 and has seen many businesses having to re adjust business plans and either cut back or increase prices on their product or service. The difficult part for pharmacy is we don’t have the ability to to do that on the main part of our business day to day. This has resulted in pharmacy owners being unable to offer the attractive terms that other industries are offering potentially, and instead having to hope those loyal team members stick by them based on what we do for communities. When it comes to recruiting new team members though it gets even more tricky as we find we are picking from a pool of people who have many more options than maybe a few years ago, and even then when you finally recruit someone they don’t stick around long when they realise how important the job they are doing actually is.
How might we tackle this issue though?
I guess ensuring your team are well trained from the off, and any additional opportunities are explored as they progress their time with your pharmacy is a start point.
Another really important area to look at is what private services they might be able to get involved in. Whilst many private services are pharmacist only services there also many services you could put someone through to up skill and allow them to generate additional income for the pharmacy as well. Wax removal such as Tympa Health is a big service that could be explored, but other things like PocDoc and Curaleaf are also easy to integrate and don’t take up a huge amount of time to support.
If anyone has any other tips then I am all ears as to how we better retain and attract support staff to our pharmacies.
Considering Expansion Of Your Estate?
Now that the market has settled a little bit post the “Lloyds Effect” is it the right time to consider expansion of your estate?
There have been many owners who have sat back to let the dust settle and will now be looking to make the long awaited retirement sale they had planned post COVID and now post Lloyds. I would definitely say that with the right mindset and business plan there is a lot of life left in the world of pharmacy and anyone considering adding to the estate should be having those conversations with their bank and also a pharmacy agent to see how things sit.
What Does The Future Look Like?
I don’t think anyone has a crystal ball as to what things look like moving forward, but what I do know is that pharmacy is not sitting still and anyone who is working in pharmacy should be ensuring they are ready to move forward with what might come. There has never been a more important time to sit down and really review what you are doing, what you could be doing and what is happening in the market. If you are considering expansion and would like to discuss current available pharmacies on the market then please feel free to reach out to the team at Christies
We run a range of pharmacy trade shows that allow for much of this so please do consider coming along to one of our events to see where you can drive your business forward in 2025 and beyond. A full list can be found here.
Christie & Co Market Review 2024
Thanks as always to Christie & Co for producing this really interesting and useful review of the Pharmacy market. You can find the full report by clicking here
I hope you have found my own insights to the world of pharmacy useful.
Richard Stephenson – Read more about my roles within pharmacy here
