Morrisons has put a significant number of its in-store pharmacies up for sale in an effort to make the business financially sustainable, but will not sell them all.
While the exact number of pharmacies being sold remains unclear, the figure is in the dozens and C+D can confirm that the supermarket will not be selling all 120 of its pharmacies.
Read more: PDA to ‘support’ Morrisons staff amid pharmacy sale review
The move follows a financial review that concluded a number of Morrisons pharmacies would be better off being run as community pharmacies under independent ownership.
The pharmacies will remain in-store and will stay open, but there will be a different name above the door, C+D has learned.
And it understands that Morrisons is not expecting any impact on patients during the sales process, as it intends to keep the pharmacies trading as normal.
Supermarket pharmacy closures
The sales will be done on a store-by-store basis and are currently not being sold off in a package.
Morrisons declined to comment on the matter.
Read more: Exclusive: Morrisons considering selling pharmacies amid review
Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison said that Morrisons had informed the body they are “looking to sell some of their pharmacy contracts”.
He stressed that this is “another stark reminder of the huge financial strain that the community pharmacy sector is under”.
“It is clear the pressures on pharmacies have reached an unsustainable level, and without urgent investment more pharmacies will be forced to reduce hours or close entirely,” Harrison warned.
Read more: Morrisons Pharmacy latest multiple to change opening hours
It comes after Morrisons confirmed to C+D in October that it was considering selling some of its pharmacies as part of a review to make the business more financially sustainable.
The number of pharmacies being considered for sale, along with the timeline, remains unclear, with ‘dozens’ the most specific approximation.
Read more: BREAKING: Morrisons to close four pharmacies
A representative told C+D a performance review across the 120-strong Morrisons estate was focusing on how it can make some of these more financially sustainable, with pharmacies more likely to be sold than closed.
Meanwhile, the supermarket giant revealed plans last March to close four of its pharmacies following a “wide-ranging review”.
Read more: Revealed: Which Morrisons pharmacy locations are closing?
The review “identified a number of areas where the costs of operations are significantly out of line with usage, volumes or the value that customers place on them”, the supermarket giant said at the time.
And chief executive Rami Baitiéh said that the changes were a “necessary part” of its plans to “renew and reinvigorate” Morrisons.
In January 2025, Morrisons launched Morrisons Clinic, an “online private prescription service” that delivers customers’ medicine in as little as 24 hours.
