Tettenhall Wood Pharmacy in Wolverhampton was sold to a first-time buyer last week (June 8) after being put on the market for almost £1 million.

The offer made by pharmacist Vinayak Khanna is undisclosed, but the asking price for the leasehold was £925,000.

The standard-hour pharmacy has a dispensing volume of around 9,500 items per month. It is situated in a mixed-use retail parade in a mainly residential area.

Prices dependent on attributes and location

Christie & Co director Carl Steer, who handled the sale, told C+D that “the value of pharmacies is linked to a number of important factors”.

These include “prescription volumes, turnover, gross profit, net profit and, of course, location and competition in that area, size of the physical pharmacy and its condition”.

Other influencing factors are “passing rent and other additional charges for things like service charges”.

“Notwithstanding the aforementioned factors, demand on the type, size and location of the opportunity also impacts greatly on a pharmacy value, as high levels of interest can impact the achieved sale price,” Mr Steer said.

Christie Finance director Gary Boyce, who secured the funding for Mr Khanna, said the pharmacy is a “stable foundation for him to take forward and implement his growth plans”.

“As an experienced pharmacist, Vinayak was determined to acquire his own pharmacy and we were able to assist him by securing the necessary funding to make his dreams become a reality,” Mr Boyce added.

Grow online presence and add services

Mr Khanna said he is “delighted to have finalised the purchase of Tettenhall Wood Pharmacy”.

“As this is my first pharmacy, this is an exciting new venture for me to be embarking upon. I have many plans to grow and expand an already successful business.”

Mr Khanna plans to establish an online presence for the pharmacy and hopes to introduce more private services to the business, including travel vaccinations, he told C+D.

He is keeping all of the pharmacy’s existing staff and said there will not be “immediate changes” to the way the business is run as he only recently took over the pharmacy.

“We haven’t got an [online presence] at the moment, so [we’re looking to add] an online ordering system and possibly sales online as well, just grow the prescription business that way as well,” Mr Khanna said.