British pharmacy chain goes into administration after £5m loss and employees walkouts
Jhoots Pharmacy owed £1.7m to banks and over £870,000 in unpaid locum fees after staff walked out at Oxfordshire branch following 10 weeks without a manager
Staff at one branch walked out after reportedly being without a manager for 10 weeks(Image: Getty)
An independent UK pharmacy chain has collapsed into administration after posting a £5million loss. This follows months after angry staff staged a walkout at a branch in Oxfordshire.
Jhoots Pharmacy recorded a pre-tax loss of £5,028,184 in the year to December 2023 before Allied Pharmacies took over 129 of its outlets.
Nevertheless, the pharmacy has continued to face difficulties with employees at the Abingdon branch downing tools on August 15 last year after allegedly being left without a manager for 10 weeks.
According to the Oxford Mail, the workers posted a notice on the pharmacy window stating: “It is really hard trying to run a pharmacy without a pharmacist, or manager. As a Trustpilot review says, ‘like a pub with no beer’.”, reports the Express.
Jhoots Pharmacy, which operates from Walsall under businessman Sarbjit Singh Jhooty, was indebted to banks by £1.7m through loans and overdrafts.
Based on documents lodged at Companies House, Lloyds bank maintained 16 outstanding charges against the company in December 2024.
The Ventnor branch on the Isle of Wight was formally struck off the NHS pharmaceutical list last July, with an additional 20 stores marked for possible removal.
Ian James and Rajnesh Mittal, from FRP Advisory, have been named as joint administrators for the company. Health minister Stephen Kinnock declared last October that it is “completely and utterly unacceptable if a business such as Jhoots is not paying its staff”.
He went on to say: “Unfortunately, there are some (pharmacies) that fall short of the standards that we expect, and sadly, the services provided by Jhoots are falling well below the mark.”
The Pharmacy Defence Association calculated that Jhoots was in debt to the tune of more than £870,000 in outstanding locum fees to its proprietors.
Reports suggested some employees had endured months without wages whilst certain branches were running dangerously low on stock.
