The Dudley Taylor pharmacies based across Yorkshire, the Midlands, the south of England and Wales, “are a great fit for the Avicenna family and perfectly complement our existing locations”, Avicenna CEO Jonathan Power said, announcing the acquisition today (March 3).

The mix of “neighbourhood, high street and health centre” pharmacies, will “continue to trade under their current names…[and] over time, where appropriate, will adopt the Avicenna partner livery that is used across the rest of the estate”, a spokesperson for the group told C+D this morning.

Mr Power said he “looks forward to working with our new colleagues and further investing in the stores to help build on their already outstanding level of patient care”.

C+D has contacted Dudley Taylor Pharmacy for comment.

The C+D Award-winning Dudley Taylor Pharmacy in Llanidloes, mid-Wales, has not been sold to Avicenna as part of the acquisition, pharmacist Dylan Jones told C+D on March 4.

Instead, the branch has been bought by a separate company – part owned by Mr Jones – and will operate as an independent pharmacy, he confirmed.

Avicenna investment

Last year, Avicenna relaunched Avibuyer, a comparison tool for medicines prices, released an app called Manage My Meds, which enables patients to order repeat prescriptions from independent pharmacies, and launched its first automated hub, assembling community dosage system trays in Sunderland.

*This article was updated on March 4 to clarify that the Llanidloes branch of Dudley Taylor is not part of the Avicenna acquisition