The owner of Lloyds Pharmacy has reportedly put all of its 1,300 chemist branches at risk of closure.
Lloyds Pharmacy was sold to private equity firm Aurelius less than a year ago in a deal worth £477million.
Aurelius is now said to have launched a strategic review of the business, which could result in its high street stores closing for good.
A spokesperson for Lloyds told The Sun : “Lloyds Pharmacy regularly reviews its pharmacy estate to ensure it is operating sustainably and any decision to sell stores is taken in the interests of patients, colleagues and the business.
“At all times, patient safety remains our top priority ensuring that our customers and patients are always able to access vital prescriptions, health advice, products and services.”
The Mirror has contacted Aurelius and Lloyds Pharmacy for comment.
It comes just days after industry magazine Pharmacy Network News said it had seen emails discussing the sale of Lloyds branches with prospective buyers.
The emails were said to include the company Hutchings Consultants which specialises in pharmacy sales and valuation.
The stores are said to be sold under three projects – Project Clover, Project Mulberry and Project Sapphire – with each managing a different geographical region in the UK.
At the time, a spokesperson from Lloyds did not confirm or deny this report when approached by The Mirror.
Lloyds Pharmacy operates around 10% of UK pharmacies and employs 17,000 people.
The news comes as the pharmacy retailer revealed it would close all of its 237 outlets inside Sainsbury’s over the course of the year.
The cuts were made following a recent strategic review and blamed “changing market conditions”.
At the time of the announcement, Kevin Birch, chief executive officer of Lloyds, said: “This decision has not been an easy one and we understand that our patients and customers may have questions about how the change will affect them
“We would like to thank them for their continued support and assure them that we are committed to providing a smooth transition over the coming months.“
Mark Pitt, Assistant General Secretary of the PDA Union added: “We have seen many disposals of Lloyds Pharmacy branches over recent months and we know more may occur.
“However, for every disposal there has been a buyer, therefore patients and communities have seen no reduction in availability, the pharmacy network has not lost capacity and there were no job losses.“
