High-dispensing Atherstone In-Practice Pharmacy in Warwickshire has been sold to an established consortium of buyers, securing its future in the area.

Atherstone is an extended-hours pharmacy that dispenses an average of 23,000 items per month.

It is located in a densely-populated residential area in the Warwickshire town of Atherstone.

The pharmacy was owned by the GP partners at Atherstone Surgery, but, following a confidential sales process with Carl Steer at Christie & Co, and with funding sourced through David Ward at Christie Finance, it has been purchased by an established consortium of buyers headed by Jay Sahota, who also owns and operates Atherstone Pharmacy in the town.

Steer said: ‘’At the time of instructing Christie & Co, the business had a 100-hour contract, but soon after this the landscape changed, with many 100-hour operators novating to extended-hour contracts and many operators choosing to reduce hours to 72 hours per week.

“This had a huge impact on the popularity of 100-hour/72-hour contracts and saw very good levels of interest in this sale, where offers and a sale were quickly secured.”

Ward added: “Following the mass of corporate pharmacies hitting the market over the last 24 months, lenders have been a little more cautious on finance for pharmacies, looking closely at the ability of any pharmacy to easily cover its outgoings.

“The reduction in the base rate will certainly help to ease some of those concerns.

“Jay and his partners are hugely-experienced pharmacists and I am certain they will continue to provide a valuable community service to Atherstone.”

Atherstone In-Practice Pharmacy was sold for an undisclosed price.