A community pharmacy in Inveraray, Argyll, has changed hands after eight years of ownership by a small group operator, specialist business property advisor Christie & Co announced yesterday (June 18).
Inveraray Pharmacy was bought by pharmacist and first-time buyer from Glasgow Murtaza Syed for an undisclosed sum, it said.
The business is “ideally located on the same street as a GP surgery in the popular tourist area of Inveraray in the west of Scotland on Loch Fyne”, it added.
Read more: Post-pandemic ‘change of direction’ led couple to buy Islay’s only pharmacy
The broker said that the pharmacy was brought to market by Apple Pharmacy Group chief executive and owner Sanjay Mahju to “allow him to focus on his pharmacies in the Central Belt area”.
The “established” pharmacy was originally acquired by Mahju in October 2016, under Mahju & Mahju Ltd, it added.
Apple Pharmacy Group now operates eight pharmacies in Scotland following the sale, according to its website.
“High influx of visitors”
Christie & Co director of pharmacy Karl Clezy said that the sale offers Syed “an excellent lifestyle business that he can further enhance through promoting additional services”.
Clezy added that Syed’s promotion of the Pharmacy First scheme “will benefit the locals and the high influx of visitors to this picturesque part of west Scotland”.
The pharmacy dispenses an average of 1,700 items per month under a 16-hour dispensary contract, according to Christie & Co.
Read more: ‘Affordable’ 30-hour ‘lifestyle’ pharmacy sold to locum pharmacist
Former owner Mahju said that he is “delighted” with the sale of the “beautiful pharmacy” to Syed, adding that he “is a great fit” and the “local population will benefit from an owner-operator”.
Syed is “a very able hard-working pharmacist - he already launched his Pharmacy First campaign before the sale and is looking to provide more services”, he added.
Earlier this year, Mahju also sold the Inner Hebridean island Islay’s only pharmacy to a married couple who were seeking a “total lifestyle change”.
And in April, another pharmacy in County Durham was sold to a locum pharmacist as a “lifestyle business” opportunity.
