Lloyds Pharmacy axes all 237 branches inside Sainsbury’s

THE UK’s second biggest pharmacy chain is shutting 237 branches.

Lloyds Pharmacy will close all its outlets in Sainsbury’s supermarkets by the end of the year, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

Boss Kevin Birch blamed ‘changing market conditions’ and promised a ‘smooth transition’. But the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee said the news was ‘extremely worrying’, as community pharmacies have had their funding cut by almost a third in seven years, leaving them ‘struggling to make ends meet’. Boss Janet Morrison said: ‘The network is the answer to so many of the health service’s problems, but many are struggling.

‘The sharp decline in their funding combined with workforce and other pressures is making it increasingly difficult to sustain services and impossible to do more.’ She called on the Government to invest in the sector.

The closures come as Lloyds is selling its sites in Scotland and Wales and some in England. In March 2021 it had 1,351 branches.