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Over 100 former Jhoots employees are unlikely to be paid outstanding wages owed to them, administrators responsible for winding up part of the business have said.

In an August 6 progress report, administrators from FRP Advisory gave an update on the fate of Jhoots Pharmacy Limited, which comprised 68 of the group’s 129 pharmacies that were sold to Allied Pharmacies last year after the group collapsed into insolvency.

The administrators said that “all active employees” transferred to Allied Pharmacies under TUPE regulations and that they did not anticipate any additional claims for unpaid wages.

However, it subsequently emerged that over 100 staff members had either left the company or been made redundant with outstanding debts owed to them.

While the administrators helped these ex-employees submit claims to the Redundancy Payments Service, they said it is “not anticipated that sufficient funds” will be available to make a payment to them.

In addition to employed staff, the company owed hundreds of thousands of pounds to locum pharmacists, who are unlikely to see any dividend from the administration. 

HSBC is listed as JPL’s sole secured creditor with a debt of £15.7m owed to the bank. In February, £800,000 was paid to HSBC, with further distributions “expected to be paid in the next reporting period”. The bank is unlikely to recover its debts in full, the administrators warned.

The administrators also revealed that five branches had been removed from the Allied Pharmacies acquisition deal after the purchases were unable to gain access to the premises “or because the associated rental commitments were considered commercially unviable”.

They wrote: “The administrators have assisted the purchaser in obtaining access to certain premises, where required, and have liaised with landlords throughout the process.

“In addition, the administrators have collected amounts due under the LTO agreement and have continued to pay rent in respect of the companies' leasehold properties as it has fallen due.”

As of June 28, the administrators’ costs stood at £715,000.