Sykes Chemist Group has put five of its pharmacies up for sale at a combined total of £3.2 million, business property adviser Christie & Co this week (October 22) announced.
The sales, which will bring the pharmacy chain’s total number of branches from nine down to four, are “part of a strategic review” of its portfolio, Christie & Co said.
Read more: Pharmacy chain puts one third of sites up for sale for £1.8m
Four of the sites now on the market are in Bolton: Pharmavon Chemist in Avondale Health Centre, Landmark Pharmacy on Chorley New Road, Sykes Chemist on St Helens Road and Noble & Peacock Pharmacy on Chorley Old Road.
Fox & Medcalfe Pharmacy on King Street, Lancaster, is also up for sale.
The combined annual turnover of the five community pharmacies is around £4.5m, with roughly 40,000 items dispensed across the sites per month, Christie & Co said.
“Hotbed of buyer activity”
The listings mean Sykes has put more than 70% of its portfolio up for sale since July 2024 - with C+D reporting last summer that the chain had put five of its then 14 pharmacies on the market.
Christie & Co’s senior agent for pharmacy Tom Young said that the broker expects “a strong response from the market” for this “exciting disposal project”.
“Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas are a hotbed of buyer activity, especially for first and second-time buyers,” he added.
Read more: ‘Strong market’: Eight in 10 plan to buy and/or sell pharmacy by 2028
Christie & Co’s website shows that four of the pharmacies are up for sale as freeholds - while Pharmavon Chemist, located in a GP practice, is the sole leasehold with a listing price of £650,000 and an annual rent of £20,800.
Bolton’s Landmark Pharmacy - which has both the joint highest turnover with Fox & Medcalfe Pharmacy in Lancaster at an excess of £1m and the most items dispensed at around 9,100 per month - is situated within one mile of nine GP surgeries, according to its listing.
Read more: Rowlands becomes ‘largest OPD provider’ with 51 hospital branches
It comes as C+D exclusively revealed this week that Rowlands Pharmacy has taken over 44 hospital pharmacy contracts across 39 sites previously run by Lloydspharmacy, bringing its total number of hospital pharmacy sites to 51.
The chain said that the transitions took place as Lloydspharmacy - whose former parent company withdrew from the healthcare services sector last year - “swiftly exited the market”.
And earlier this month, Christie & Co’s annual market review found that over 80% of pharmacy professionals plan to buy or sell a pharmacy, or both, in the next three years.
