A South Yorkshire pharmacy has been sold in a deal brokered by property consultancy Christie & Co.
Stone Pharmacy is a 100-hour community pharmacy that is run under full management with a locum pharmacist, and dispenses an average of 22,000 items per month. The business adjoins Garland House surgery in Darfield.
The pharmacy has been owned by Khuram Akhtar and Mohammed Ali, trading as MEDS2U Ltd, for the last seven years. It was brought to market to allow the pair to pursue new ventures both in and out of community pharmacy.
Following a confidential sales process with Christie & Co, the business has been sold to Livesey Healthcare Ltd, which owns another pharmacy in East Lancashire.
The company’s owners had previously locumed at Stone Pharmacy and are aiming to grow patient numbers and expand the service offering.
Khuram Akhtar, former owner of Stone Pharmacy, said: “The business at Stone Pharmacy has been a fantastic enterprise for many years for us, with limited competition and a position central to the local community we have always enjoyed the support of the nearby population and are pleased that it is now in the hands of experienced operators who can build on that foundation with the expansion of new services.
“We wish the new owners and the pharmacy team the greatest of success. My business partner and I now look forward to concentrating on other ventures both inside and out of community pharmacy.”
Mohammed Balal, director at Livesey Healthcare, said: “We are looking forward to this new challenge and to serving the community of Darfield. Stone Pharmacy offers me and my fellow Directors a solid platform to grow the business further thanks to the hard work of the previous owners.”
Jon Booth, director – pharmacy at Christie & Co, who handled the sale, added: “Stone Pharmacy was sold for a premium price considering its status at the time as a 100-hours pharmacy contract, this was down to its very high volume of items underpinning the success of the contract but also, from the point of view of a new hands-on operator, it offered plenty of growth with the provision of new services. With the recent announcement of changes to the 100-hours contract, we anticipate the market for former 100-hours contracts will gain further momentum.”
Stone Pharmacy was sold for an undisclosed price.