2024 was a record-breaking year for pharmacy property transactions, with a third of real estate deals involving new market entrants, reveals Christie & Co’s annual report.

The figures are released in Christie & Co’s Business Outlook 2025 report, which reflects on the themes, activity, and challenges of 2024 and forecasts what 2025 might bring across the sectors in which Christie & Co operates, including the pharmacy sector.

Market overview

The calling of a swift General Election in July 2024 caught many by surprise and, frustratingly for the sector, this sidelined any potential announcement of a new funding deal as this fell foul of the pre-election sensitivity period.

Following Labour’s landslide election victory, the Party appointed Stephen Kinnock as its new Pharmacy Minister, along with a host of other appointments across healthcare.

Also of note, pharmacists Sadik Al-Hassan and Taiwo Owatemi now sit as parliamentary MPs, which, one would hope, will provide better insight into the sector’s challenges and drive the necessary changes from the inside.

While any funding announcement was delayed in 2024, it is hoped that more-positive news will be received over the coming weeks.

A minor boost was also received by the sector with the introduction of the Pharmacy First service in England, which has already been operating successfully in both Scotland and Wales (CAS) for a couple of years.

The implementation wasn’t without its challenges, however, with some minor adjustments to activity thresholds in October last year, it is hoped that the delivery of the service will continue to improve to the benefit of patients and importantly provide much-needed additional income to contractors.

Transactional activity

​Throughout 2024, according to the report, transactional activity was buoyant, despite ongoing operational challenges.

In the 12 months to the end of November 2024, Christie & Co completed 222 pharmacy sales, more than double the amount for the preceding year. And 36% of these were corporate disposals which the broker expects to subside in 2025 and be replaced with an increasing volume of independent sales.

While 2024 was a record year for transactional activity, with deal volume at an all-time high despite ongoing operational challenges and cost pressures, the distressed pharmacies that came to the market all generated significant interest from buyers keen to acquire competitively-priced opportunities on both a local and a regional basis

First-time buyers were the most-active buyer type in 2024, acquiring 33% of pharmacy businesses on the market with Christie & Co, down from 45% in 2023.

In contrast, large groups and corporate operators made up just 8% of acquisitions last year.

Pricing

Christie & Co notes an average decrease of 6.3% in the price per pharmacy businesses sold last year.

While 2024 was a record year for transactional activity, with deal volume at an all-time high despite ongoing operational challenges and cost pressures, the distressed pharmacies that came to the market all generated significant interest from buyers keen to acquire competitively-priced opportunities on both a local and a regional basis.

This negative price movement, therefore, was a product of the high numbers of smaller pharmacies and corporate disposals sold in the first half of the year.

Encouragingly, the last quarter saw a vast increase in the average value of the pharmacies being added to our pipelines (offers made and deals being accepted), which will no doubt positively impact our price index in 2025.

An average of 91% of asking price was achieved on pharmacy businesses in 2024, which is a decrease on the year before which saw offers accepted at an average of 2.5% above asking price.

Market sentiment

As part of its annual sentiment survey, Christie & Co asked pharmacy professionals across the country for their views on the year ahead.

When questioned about their sentiment in 2025, 22% said they feel positive while 50% feel negative, which can be attributed to the uncertainty around funding in the sector.

When asked about their sale and acquisition plans, 68% stated that they are looking to buy and/or sell this year.

Predictions

In the pharmacy market in 2025, Christie & Co expects:

• Cost challenges will remain a key factor in the market, none more so than the increase in National Living Wage (NLW) from April 2025
• It is hoped that, with an improved funding settlement, levels of distress in the sector will subside
• A continuation of the improvement seen in Q4 2024 of the volume of independent sales as corporate disposal processes start to subside
• Improved appetite from group operators to acquire as some cost pressures stabilise
• Private equity is expected to renew its focus on the sector, as it is one of the few primary care sectors not to have seen significant investor appetite

Jonathan Board, head of pharmacy at Christie & Co, comments: “2024 was a record year from pharmacy transactions due in part to an increased level of corporate divestments.

“As we move into 2025, the entire sector is waiting with bated breath for an announcement on the outcome of pharmacy’s wider funding agreement which will replace the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework’s 5-year deal from 2019.

Although cost pressures will continue to be a feature for the foreseeable future, market appetite remains strong for well-established, well-run businesses

“This will hopefully provide some certainty for all contractors moving forwards and allow them to plan and invest accordingly.

“Although cost pressures will continue to be a feature for the foreseeable future, market appetite remains strong for well-established, well-run businesses, as well as the numbers of pharmacies sold over the last 12 months, but as highlighted in the Christie & Co Pharmacy Market Review 2024, it’s likely that market appetite in England will be tempered by the outcome of the much-needed funding settlement negotiations.”

To read the full report, click here