Boots UK’s parent company has given prospective bidders until May 16 to submit their final offers for the multiple, Sky News has reported. The news outlet reported today (April 26) that Walgreens Boots Alliance’s advisers at Goldman Sachs have notified bidders of the mid-May deadline for formal offers. Asda’s owners – billionaire Issa brothers and TDR Capital – and the asset management company Apollo Global Management are expected to put forward final offers for the UK community pharmacy chain, Sky News reported. However, the outlet claimed that the multiple is expected to receive “fewer than a handful of bids” by the given deadline. This is due to some parties being put off by the asking price set by Boots’ parent company and “the backdrop of inflation and other cost pressures expected to hamper Boots' near-term financial performance”, Sky News reported. What do you think of the latest Boots sale news? Are you keeping up with it? Are you surprised the multiple has only received a handful of bids? 

Despite the five-year funding deal promising to give contractors some stability and the ability to plan for their move to a more service-led business, PSNC's new CEO Janet Morrison admits there are “challenges” with having five years of flat funding. A rethink of the contract’s length might be on the cards, Ms Morrison suggested in an interview with C+D. Is a five-year contract still working for community pharmacy? |Chemist+Druggist :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) PSNC chief: Low-scale, low-volume schemes impede pharmacy’s move to service-led model|Chemist+Druggist :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) What do you think? Are you in favour of having a multi-year funding contract? How long should that be? Share your thoughts below

"If someone enters into a contract, it is legally binding", David Reissner - chair of the Pharmacy Law & Ethics Association - wrote in a blog for C+D. While examples have been shared of instances where both locums and pharmacy contractors have failed to keep to the agreed hourly rate, contractors have told C+D they are now considering some options following reports of a minority of locums’ “tactics” to obtain higher rates.  What is your experience? Are locums keeping to their rate agreement? And vice versa, are contractors keeping to theirs?

So some of the multiples have decided to cut opening hours of some of their branches . This is to address the increase of the minimum wage . There is already a shortage of pharmacist locum cover and now so many more pharmacist managers will quit . There are rumours of locum pay being £50 an hour while pharmacist managers earn half this amount and are expected to do so much more to hit targets . I no longer feel loyal to the company but I do still feel loyal to the community I serve . I can only see more temporary pharmacy closures .

A reminder of the findings so far: Revealed: The average salaries, work-life balance, and job satisfaction of primary care pharmacistshttps://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD135858/Revealed-The-average-salaries-worklife-balance-and-job-satisfaction-of-primary-care-pharmacists Pharmacy teams flag staffing level concerns amid mounting workloadshttps://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD135857/Pharmacy-teams-flag-staffing-level-concerns-amid-mounting-workloads Revealed: The average pharmacist branch manager salary across the UK in 2021https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD135862/Revealed-The-average-pharmacist-branch-manager-salary-across-the-UK-in-2021 Average salary of non-manager pharmacists decreased by more than £600 in 2021https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD135860/Average-salary-of-non-manager-pharmacists-decreased-by-more-than-600-in-2021 Does the above ring true for you? How has the past year been for you? Share your experiences and thoughts below, and look out for more coverage in the coming weeks. 

PSNC: All pharmacies can access early advance payments from November :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) Were you previously using the Pharmacy Earlier Payment Scheme (PEPS)? Do you have any concerns about cashflow following the changes? Share your thoughts and experiences below

Should the GPhC set a minimum number of staff depending on the prescription volume, service offering and population requirements, perhaps? Or should it be down to employers to set expectations in their pharmacy's SOPs? Share your thoughts below GPhC chief: 'Counterproductive' to set ideal number of pharmacy staff :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) Legal view: GPhC should not set an ideal number of pharmacy staff :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) PDA: Pharmacies have 'long way to go' to meet safety targets :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) ‘Pharmacy staffing levels haven’t kept up with the boom in services’ :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) The pharmacies handling ‘horrendous’ demand on a skeleton staff :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk)

With pharmacists being added to the 'shortage occupation list', community pharmacy employers reportedly struggling to recruit and retain pharmacy professionals and reports of losing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to PCNs and GP practices, what has your experience of the community pharmacy jobs market been over the past 12 months? Have you struggled to recruit to your pharmacy? Or have you perhaps changed jobs yourself during this time? How did you find it?  Share your experience and join the discussion below Background reading: Pay and workplace pressure behind community pharmacy retention issues :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) PDA to employers: Where are your pledges to improve work conditions? :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) Recognition of pharmacist shortage welcome as sector loses out to PCNs :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk) Employers resume pharmacist apprenticeship plans and dispel myths :: C+D (chemistanddruggist.co.uk)