The suggested changes will “transform both how we operate and how we are structured”, Toby Anderson, CEO of Lloydspharmacy’s parent company McKesson UK wrote in an email, seen by C+D, to the company’s employees yesterday (July 6).

Changes to the business may include reshaping “parts of our organisational structure, which regrettably means that some roles may be placed at risk of redundancy”, Mr Anderson said.

“These changes will mean that we are better prepared to meet the needs of our customers and patients for years to come,” he added.

C+D has asked Lloydspharmacy whether pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will be affected by the restructuring plans.

“Protect our long-term future”

McKesson UK – which owns Lloydspharmacy and wholesaler AAH – operates in a “volatile marketplace”, which is now even more challenging due to COVID-19, Mr Anderson said.

The company had already made some changes to improve its efficiency earlier this year, “including freezing recruitment of non-critical roles, restricting travel and pausing any pay increases”. But an increase in costs, coupled with an income reduction, has “accelerated our need to act to protect our long-term future”, Mr Anderson said.

Other proposed changes to McKesson UK include “standardising employee terms and conditions across our business”. A McKesson UK spokesperson told C+D today (July 7) that the “business has evolved through the years by acquiring other companies”, which has resulted in employment contract differences.

“We want to make things fairer and more equitable across our company, so we’ll be standardising our employee terms and conditions through a collective consultation,” the spokesperson added.

McKesson UK staff will be able to put forward questions and concerns about the suggested changes through a formal consultation process that will begin on July 20, Mr Anderson said.

He added that McKesson staff would hear from their local leadership team today, “explaining what this means for you and your area of the business”, while “regular updates on the progress of the change” are expected to follow.

The company will continue to invest in its business, by “rolling out new technology through our enterprise resource planning programme and launching a new retail dispensing system”, and by working to make McKesson UK a better place for all colleagues, Mr Anderson added.