T.H. Prichard & Son and John & Michael Williams (Brynmawr) Ltd 

A group of five Gwent pharmacies have been sold to an established English operator breaking into the Welsh market (April 28). 

T.H. Prichard & Son and John & Michael Williams (Brynmawr) Ltd operate in the southeast Wales county, and they hit the market to allow for family retirement. 

Collectively they dispense 55,000 items per month and the sale includes additional commercial freehold units for the new buyer who has expanded its English portfolio by acquiring the Gwent pharmacies. 

Outwoods Pharmacy and HMS Pharmacy 

A Loughborough pharmacy has been sold to first-time buyers as its husband-and-wife owners leave the sector (April 10). 

Dipul and Darshini Modha ran Outwoods Pharmacy for around 10 years, with a good location in a large residential area in the town as it dispensed 6,564 items per month on average. 

The standard-hours pharmacy has been purchased by first-time buyer Karan Pankhania in a quick five-week sale, and Christie & Co pharmacy director says the Leicestershire area will continue to be “a hotbed of activity” over the next few months. 

It comes as a dentist has bought his first pharmacy from a retiring owner in Loughborough (April 23). 

It’s Dr Milan Chande and his family’s first foray into pharmacy after owning dental practices as pharmacist Ben Modi retires upon 25 years of ownership. 

HMS Pharmacy is a standard-hours pharmacy dispensing a high 10,500 items per month with two large consultation rooms and an additional floor ideal to sublet. 

Parade Pharmacy 

A Hertfordshire village pharmacy has been sold to first-time buyers as its previous owners retire (April 28). 

Parade Pharmacy in Chorleywood has been the cornerstone of the village for locals for 30 years selling 5,300 items per month on average as Mr & Mrs Dodhia have sold the pharmacy to Divya Amin and Hetal Patel. 

Hutchings broker Paul Steet wished them “a joyful and fulfilling retirement”, adding they will start with a celebration of their “commitment and service to the local community over many years” by attending a garden party at Buckingham Palace. 

W G Hamilton 

A busy Belfast pharmacy has been sold to allow its pharmacist to semi-retire (April 15). 

W G Hamilton Pharmacy in Ballysillan offers the Minor Ailments Service and Pharmacy First as it dispenses 8,750 items per month on average and collects scripts from 20 surgeries in the area. 

Now former owner Fergus Hamilton wished first-time buyers Andrew Crawford and Daniel Cheah “success and prosperity in their new business venture”. 

Christie & Co said a lot of sales in Northern Ireland have completed with first-time buyers getting a foot on the ladder as existing contractors are struggling with a lack of government funding leaving with little room to expand. 

Slamannan Village Pharmacy 

A Scottish pharmacy chain has taken over a Stirlingshire pharmacy as it now owns 43 branches across Scotland (April 22). 

Right Medicine Pharmacy Group bought the pharmacy from Ray Mackie who has now retired as the pharmacy stands unopposed in the village near Falkirk. 

For its location, it’s a high-dispensing pharmacy at 6,2000 items per month on average and has a spacious dispensary and two consultation rooms for services. 

Right Medicine company director Mike Embrey said: “Having known Ray for some time, we were already aware of what a great pharmacy he ran and how much he and his team were valued by patients.  

“We now hope to continue to look after Ray's pharmacy, team, and patients long into the future and wish him a fantastic retirement!” 

Carleton-in-Craven Pharmacy 

A local growing group has took over a high-dispensing North Yorkshire pharmacy (April 25). 

Zakar Hayat and Mubashir Ahmed of Mpharm Holdings Limited own two other pharmacies in Sheffield and Burnley and now have added Carleton-in-Craven Pharmacy to their portfolio. 

It dispenses on average 15,000 items per month and has two large consultation rooms, a BD Rowa Vmax dispensing robot and three self-charging vehicles that are used for prescription deliveries to monitored dosage system (MDS) patients. 

Hayat said: “We feel like now is the right time to take on a new challenge - a modern, thriving and busy pharmacy set in the heart of the scenic village of Carleton. The previous owner, Jonathan, has built this wonderful project and we aim to further expand the reputation and array of services to ensure Carleton-in-Craven remains the hub of North Yorkshire for all healthcare needs.” 

Former owner Jonathan Taylor will retire after running the pharmacy for the last 12.5 years. 

Beauty salons, portacabins and health centres 

An application has been submitted to change a storage unit in Ipswich to a pharmacy (April 25). 

It’s currently used for a leaflet distribution business but Wellbeing Ltd want to turn it into a pharmacy to compliment the nearby convenience store, repair garage and tyre fitters as it looks to expand its 40 branches. 

A beauty salon could replace an empty pharmacy in Wolverhampton after being vacant for the last 3 years (April 9). 

The Tettenhall Road location has been left in disrepair and has major structural defects, so it would be demolished and make way for a beauty salon offering laser hair removal and other services built on the current site. 

A GP surgery has objected to a proposed temporary portacabin pharmacy in Cornwall (April 10). 

The initial planning application was submitted in February to transform the site on Queens Crescent in Bodmin but has been met with a lot of objections. 

The Cornish Times reported that Bosvena Health said Banns Pharmacy’s application to install “would threaten the viability of the as-yet unbuilt plans for a new primary care centre on land near to Chy Trevail in addition to their own dispensary service serving patients in rural areas”. 

And a new pharmacy will open in Suffolk after a Primary Care Support England decision was overturned (April 2). 

Sudbury Mercury reported that the application for Sudbury Community Health Centre to have a pharmacy had gone to appeal as a local councillor previously described the rejection as a “scandal”. 

The health centre is home to Siam Surgery who said the new pharmacy will open soon. 

Raj’s Chemist 

A Bradford pharmacy has been bought by an independent group operator as its owner seeks more time with his family (April 28). 

Rajesh Gautam said the sale had been “an emotional journey” after successfully running the 8,830 item dispensing pharmacy in Allerton within a large residential estate. 

Hutchings managing director Scott Hayton said that with “the fantastic reputation Raj had built locally … he will be missed” and he was pleased to have “have secured a great outcome for all with a buyer who really understood the strategic value of the pharmacy”. 

Elm Park Pharmacy 

A high-dispensing East London pharmacy operating alongside a post office has been sold (April 28). 

Elm Park Pharmacy in Hornchurch dispenses 16,000 items per month and follows on the sale of another pharmacy its outgoing owner Farhad Mashadi sold in 2022. 

A local operator has took over amid a complex deal in ensuring the separate post office business operating in the pharmacy on a sub-lease will still be open. 

Total Health Pharmacy 

A 100-hour Norfolk pharmacy next to a health centre has been sold to a first-time buyer (April 24). 

Based in Watton close to Norwich, Total Health Pharmacy dispenses a high average of 23,315 items per month. Ex-owner Dinesh Ganatra will now begin a staggered retirement as Hillary Enye takes over. 

Swanley Pharmacy 

A couple have bought a shopping centre pharmacy in Kent (April 28). 

Swanley Pharmacy is in the town’s shopping centre and dispense 10,000 items per month on average which had increased after the local Boots closed in 2023. 

Husband-and-wife team Ashish and Devi Patel have took over the pharmacy from Allcures Plc who have sold as part of a strategic divestment, and it is the couple’s first pharmacy purchase to build on a part-share pharmacy they have in South London. 

Whitton Corner Pharmacy 

A Twickenham pharmacy in a community centre has been bought by experienced operators (April 30). 

Whitton Corner Pharmacy opened in 2014 in a community centre next to a purpose-built health centre but it was sold as its owners found running it remotely too challenging. 

Sej Pharmaceutical Ltd, who own pharmacies in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, have bought the pharmacy despite its lease expiring and no security of tenure to use the premises.