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What will Bestway bring to the pharmacy market?

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What will Bestway bring to the pharmacy market?

The market will undoubtedly see changes as a result of this deal, says Noel Wicks

Well, no sooner had I predicted that we would all be waving the starts and stripes for The Co-operative Pharmacy’s new owners than I’m proved wrong by Bestway Group swooping in with a £620 million pound offer for them.

It’s an interesting one, and I am sure many of the staff working for Co-op will be breathing a sigh of relief that their new bosses are likely to come in and work with existing staff and structures rather than sweep everything Co-op out of the door and implant their own corporate image.

This change does make you think about the dynamic that this will bring to the pharmacy market place. I appreciate it’s early days yet, but you can’t help speculating that the Bestway Group could, in time, bring some significant changes to the world of pharmacy.

The Bestway Group currently has an interesting portfolio, the core business of which is grocery wholesaling from 62 warehouses to independent grocery retailers all over the UK. Other interests include a Numark-like grocery symbol group called Best-One, a concrete company and a banking and real estate arm.

Of course, of primary interest is the fact that it is a fairly large wholesaler in its own right. In the past few years we’ve seen wholesaler choice massively reduced as the pharmaceutical industry has pursued limited distribution. If I look back to when I first started in pharmacy, there is much less choice, particularly in terms of full-line wholesalers (if such a term even truly exists any more). In the first instance I would imagine Bestway is well placed to look to do its own distribution – probably a bit of a blow for Co-op’s current wholesalers.

Once this is established it would seem fairly natural for an organisation with Bestway’s experience to look to start wholesaling to independents. As it has experience in creating its own symbol group, it wouldn’t surprise me if it combined this wholesaling with a symbol group offering. If so, independent pharmacy could benefit from this increased choice, particularly if it comes from what prides itself on being a family run business that understands independent retailers.

Having had the experience of being a (once) young pharmacist starting out with my own pharmacy business, I’m also interested in to see if its banking arm will get involved in the pharmacy market. The recent banking crisis has seen funding become increasingly difficult to obtain, even for solid businesses such as pharmacies. Despite this, goodwill values remain strong, meaning the scope for pharmacists looking to get on the ownership ladder is even more limited.

I would hope that perhaps this is something that Bestway may, in time, look to address. The once prolific wholesaler-supported banking schemes have nearly all disappeared and yet they provided a vital lifeline to those looking to become their own bosses. If Bestway’s banking arm looked to provide this, then it could be particularly powerful if Bestway ever looks to reorganise its pharmacy portfolio. It would be fantastic if the branches that don’t work for Bestway ended up coming back into the independent sector.

I guess, all in all, Sir Anwar Pervez and his team have their work cut out for them and, for the rest of us, I guess we have to be content to live in interesting times.

Noel Wicks is an independent pharmacist.

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