Pharmacy owners are more confident about the future of their businesses compared with 12 months ago, although nine out of 10 are expecting financial pressures to rise over the next five years, a survey by Lloyds TSB has suggested.

Almost four in 10 pharmacy contractors said they believed their profits would increase over the next 12 months in a survey of more than 180 pharmacists, GPs and dentists – compared with only a quarter this time last year.

Nearly a third of contractors said they would actively look to increase their number of premises in the next five years, compared with only 29 per cent last year, while 69 per cent believed there would be greater consolidation in the industry in the next five years.  

Despite a rise in confidence, 93 per cent of contractors said they expected financial pressures to worsen over the next five years, similar to the 94 per cent last year

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But despite a rise in confidence, 93 per cent of contractors said they expected financial pressures to increase over the next five years, similar to the 94 per cent last year.  "The recession definitely affected margin and the traditionalists are finding the going tough while forward-thinking pharmacists are looking for ways to increase their over-the-counter sales," Rafique Bhojani, pharmacist and director of online pharmacy Order Line, said.

"I think pharmacists believe we are on the crest of a wave of legislation that has been going on for so long now that they are beginning to get used to it and confident that there are no surprises left".

But as pharmacists become more confident about the future of their businesses, the survey showed that GPs were not feeling as positive, with more than three quarters saying they did not expect single practices to still be around in five years time.

Clinical commissioning groups have become less popular with GPs, with more than half saying they were not a good thing, compared to 49 per cent last year.  

The Pharmacy Consultancy managing director Kevin Nichols said pharmacists were taking a "longer view" of where their businesses can go.

"I think from the pharmacist perspective it's because they know that the change is pretty much almost upon us. As a sector they are moving on", he added.  

Read the full report here.