Well Pharmacy today (June 11) announced that its chief executive Seb Hobbs will retire from the business at the end of September this year “due to a change in family circumstances”.

Hobbs, who joined the business in 2019 and last year oversaw the acquisition of Lexon, said that he was stepping down after five years with the company to “spend time” with his wife “who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year”.

Read more: Boots boss Seb James quits pharmacy giant amid ongoing closures

The multiple added that it has appointed Greg Pateras to succeed him, who will join the business from the end of this month and “undergo an intensive induction before taking on the CEO role at the end of September”.

Pateras brings “a wealth of experience through senior leadership positions across multi-site retail organisations” including in C-suite roles at Shop Direct, Matalan and Frasers Fashion.

“Kindness and understanding”

“I wish to extend my personal thanks to our owners, the Bestway Group, for their kindness and understanding of our situation,” Hobbs said.

He added that it had been a “privilege” to lead the pharmacy multiple, also known as Bestway Healthcare, which he said is “resilient for today and fit to prosper in the long term”.

Read more: Ex-Lloydspharmacy superintendent Victoria Steele to leave role in group

“When I leave it will be with gratitude and admiration for the 7,500+ people in Bestway Healthcare who are committed to improving the lives of our patients and customers - thank you all,” Hobbs said.

Chair of Bestway Group and Bestway Healthcare Lord Choudrey thanked the outgoing chief executive “on behalf of the board of Bestway Group and the wider Bestway family…for all he has done for the business and also to wish him and [his wife] Emma all the best going forward”.

“Genuinely honoured”

Choudrey also congratulated Pateras on his appointment and wished him “every success as he leads [the] business into the future”.

The incoming chief executive said that he is “genuinely honoured” to have been given the “opportunity” to lead the pharmacy multiple and looks forward to joining the “great team”.

Read more: Well launches pharmacy in WH Smith at Birmingham Airport

“The scale of the business with its integrated model, along with its ambitious owners and passionate colleagues, leave us well placed in the continuously changing healthcare market,” Pateras added.

It comes as Boots UK’s managing director Seb James is also set to leave his role at the pharmacy multiple and  join ophthalmology clinic group Veonet in November.

And Lloydspharmacy’s former superintendent Victoria Steele will soon leave the position of clinical director and chief pharmacist for Lloydspharmacy Healthcare Services.