The multiple faced a slew of reports in the national media last week (May 18-19) that seven Lloydspharmacy branches are due to close between May 30 and July 24 this year.

Six of the seven branches are in Sainsbury’s stores and are due to close entirely and one is to be sold, the reports revealed.

Read more: Lloydspharmacy rejects ex-Sainsbury’s staff enhanced redundancy claims

The branches are:

• Sainsbury's Civic Way, Swadlincote, Derbyshire – to close on May 30
• Fore Street, Okehampton, Devon – to close at the end of May and be taken over by unnamed new owners
• Sainsbury's Peak Drive, Allenton, Derby – to close in “early June”
• Sainsbury's Rother Way, Chesterfield – to close on June 13
• Sainsbury's Newport – to close on June 13
• Sainsbury’s Oxford Road, Kidlington – to close on July 23
• Sainsbury's St Ann Way, Gloucester – to close on July 24

Read more: Lloydspharmacy quits Sainsbury’s: What we do (and don't) know so far

A Lloydspharmacy spokesperson confirmed to C+D today (May 22) that the reports were correct at the time of publication and that the multiple has no updates to share.

They added that these are subject to change as plans for each Sainsbury’s pharmacy are being determined on a branch-by-branch basis and that any change to the dates will be confirmed by the multiple closer to the time.

 

Branch-by-branch basis

 

The spokesperson said that Lloydspharmacy teams “remain committed to helping patients easily find a suitable alternative provision” following the multiple’s announcement in January about “the withdrawal of pharmacy services from all Sainsbury’s stores…throughout 2023”.

“As part of this, they are keeping patients informed of when services from their specific pharmacy will end so that they can transfer their nominations to an alternative provision,” they added.

Read more: Lloydspharmacy exits Sainsbury’s: Locations of all the branches revealed

However, they reiterated that final plans for each pharmacy are being determined on a branch-by-branch basis.

It comes as Lloydspharmacy has formally rejected a claim for enhanced redundancy benefits in the latest stage of its dispute with former Sainsbury’s staff.

Meanwhile, the multiple last month confirmed that it is “selectively selling” some of its branches, but stressed that only those located in Sainsbury’s stores are “at risk of closure”.

Read more: Davidsons Chemists reveals acquisition of five Lloydspharmacy branches

C+D exclusively revealed in January that the multiple will withdraw its pharmacy services from all 237 Sainsbury’s stores over the course of this year.

 

It is as yet unclear what the fate of each branch will be. At the time, the multiple told C+D it was “exploring options for each individual branch”.