The proportion of pharmacy owners citing the pharmacy contract as their main business threat has doubled since last year, the C+D Salary Survey 2013 has found.

While category M clawbacks remained the top concern – cited by 39 per cent of contractor respondents, compared with 21 per cent last year – 30 per cent named deficiencies in the contract as the primary threat to their income. This compared with only 16 per cent last year.

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	The findings from the survey, conducted between August 23 and October 15, painted a mixed picture of contractors' finances. A fifth of the 64 respondents reported a rise in their income in the past year  – up from just 12 per cent the year before.

But half suffered a fall in earnings and a third reported a stagnant income. Only 49 per cent of contractors were satisfied with their pay.

Numark managing director John D'Arcy said that although the increase in contractor income sounded good "on the face of it", his experience was that contractors were not finding it any easier. "The costs are increasing because the volume of scripts is increasing and they need more people to manage the workload," he told C+D.

Martin Bennett, owner of Wicker Pharmacy, Sheffield, said he expected contractors' dissatisfaction to grow further when it "really hit home" how much profit margins had dropped over the past year.