West Elloe Pharmacy in Spalding, Lincolnshire – which dispenses an average 53,000 items per month – was sold to BMP Healthcare Limited, Christie & Co said today (January 13).

The pharmacy’s dispensing volumes make it “one of England’s highest dispensing bricks and mortar pharmacies”, it added.

It sold as part of a group deal that also included Knight Street Pharmacy in Pinchbeck, which dispenses 9,000 items a month.

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Stagedale Limited had owned and operated the two pharmacies for more than 25 years but was put up for sale “following the impending retirement of some of its shareholders”, according to Christie & Co. The company was sold for an undisclosed price, the broker said.

The business implemented automated dispensing services and allowed patients to collect prescriptions 24 hours a day – a service that “developed strongly as a result of the pandemic”, it said.

The buyer – BMP Healthcare Limited – is a Leicester-based group comprising eight pharmacies.

 

Sold to a “young and exciting” group

 

Rahul Patel, managing director of BMP Healthcare Limited, said: “We are delighted to have acquired such a prestigious pharmacy business which has been at the heart of community pharmacy in the Spalding area for over a quarter of a century.

“Working alongside our existing eight pharmacies, we are looking forward to delivering not only the strong service the pharmacies already offer but also to introducing additional services to further enhance the delivery of care to our patients.”

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Ryszard Cygan, managing director of Stagedale Limited, added: “We are delighted to have sold the business to BMP Healthcare, a young and exciting group that shares the same ethos and principles we have had at the core of our business for the last 25 years.

“We are confident that Rahul and team will continue to develop the services the pharmacies offer, further enhancing their profile with patients across the Spalding area.”

 

“Confidence” in the market

 

Director of medical at Christie & Co Carl Steer said that the sale “demonstrates the appetite and confidence some operators have in the marketplace”.

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“Knowing Rahul’s existing pharmacy estate, the purchase of Stagedale Limited’s pharmacies will complement this further to the benefit of patients and the communities the pharmacies serve,” he added.

Last month, Christie & Co announced that a community pharmacy in West London had been purchased by a small independent multiple-operator.