Pharmacy chain Well has continued its acquisition trail with the purchase of the Dorset-based Angel Pharmacy group.

The purchase of Angel Pharmacy, which operates four pharmacies and an online prescription business in Weymouth, is part of Well’s £200 million five-year growth plan. This is Well’s second acquisition this year. The Bestway-owned company completed its purchase of Care4u in March 2015.

Bestway bought The Co-operative Pharmacy business from The Co-operative Group in October 2014, renaming it ‘Well’. It has an ambitious growth strategy and is looking to grow its current network of 798 Well branches to 1,000 by 2018.

“It’s a very exciting time as the business continues to grow with this latest acquisition, and the roll-out of our new brand name across all Co-operative Pharmacy branches on UK high streets continues at pace,” said Christian Logue, Well’s Portfolio and Business Development Director.

“Angel Pharmacy is an award-winning local business and very popular within the local communities that it serves.”

The four local pharmacies in the group will rebrand to Well early next year. They will continue to operate as Angel Pharmacy in the interim, with no plans in place to change staffing at the branches.