Well has bought a seven-branch pharmacy chain in south Devon as part of its £200 million expansion plan.

The newly rebranded multiple, formerly the Co-operative Pharmacy, officially took ownership of Care4u Pharmacy Ltd at the end of February for an undisclosed sum, it announced on Tuesday (March 17).

Well said the acquisition was part of its five-year plan to expand the business, announced by owners Bestway when it changed the multiple’s name in February.

Well said the pharmacies would continue to operate under the Care4u brand “in the interim”, but would be refurbished and rebranded under the Well name within the next 12 months. The multiple stressed that none of the branches, which employ a total of 70 people, were at risk of closure.

Well CEO John Nuttall said the multiple shared the same “vision and values” as Care4u. “They are a highly respected pharmacy chain within the south Devon community, known for [their] passion for providing excellent customer service,” he explained.

“We share that passion at Well and pride ourselves on providing personalised healthcare and wellbeing in the heart of our local communities,” Mr Nuttall added.

The former directors of Care4u – Kevin Muckian, Mark Healey and Martin Frankland – echoed the comments. “Care4u is a very special business and it was a very difficult decision for us to sell, but it was important to us that we were handing the business over to a company that we could trust and that shares our values,” they said.

Well reaffirmed its aim to increase its annual revenues from £750m to £1 billion by 2019.

In December, Bestway told C+D it planned to add more pharmacies to the chain if it could secure funding.

 

 

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