Weldricks has said sales rose from £73.7m in 2023 to £77.9m in 2024, an increase of 6%.
But pre-tax profits worsened from a loss of £2.2m in 2023 to a loss of £5.4m.
In its strategic report, directors pointed to the “fixed-funding” nature of the CPCF contract and said the “absence of inflationary increases over a seven-year period” had presented “significant financial challenges” to the business.
It added the latest increase in CPCF funding was insufficient to “offset inflation, increased prescription volumes, or rising operational costs.”
Weldrick’s MD and chair Christopher Alcock told C+D the “year-end outturn was in line with our expectations.
“The poor remuneration negotiated for all contractors by CPE meant a decline in performance compared to the previous year was inevitable.
“Along with continued underfunding through the pharmacy contract, rising National Living Wage (NLW) obligations and other inflationary pressures all impacted our performance.
“It should be noted that several significant one-off costs were incurred during the year. These included expenses related to acquisitions, relocations, two aborted acquisition processes, and the write-off of an investment.
“The company remains financially strong and continues to have the full support of its lender and shareholders that we can continue to manage costs to reflect the service levels that the government are prepared to pay and CPE are able to negotiate for patient care through community pharmacy.”
Read more: ‘A history of failure’: Weldricks boss blasts pharmacy negotiator
On Pharmacy First, Weldricks said the increased costs of delivery, including staffing and wage increases, “significantly reduced the net financial benefit” of the service.
It said the business remains focused on “investment in staff training, infrastructure, and operational improvements”.
But it also pointed to “ongoing sector-wide issues” it said heaped pressure on profits.
These included “pharmacist shortages, high locum fees, supply constraints, and medicine cost-inflation”.
However, the business raised £4m cash via the disposal of assets, including an investment property at Railway Court, Doncaster, and a pharmacy premises.
These were sold in July 2025, after the reporting date for the accounts.
The company said the £4m sale had enabled Weldricks to “streamline operations and dispose of certain non-core activities while replaying all outstanding bank loans and improving cash flow.”
Ravaged
In January, David Vanns, who has moved into an advisory role at Weldricks after 30 years with the company, told C+D the funding situation had proved to be a “distressing seven-year period, where CPE has allowed us to be ravaged by inflation”.
He added it was “not the treatment we expected when we toiled, innovated and put ourselves at personal risk on the front line during the pandemic” describing it as a “shocking and deeply shameful way to treat the professional and vocational people who have devoted their lives, and their family’s security, to the NHS, their local communities, and community pharmacy.”
