Christie reports strong demand to buy UK pharmacies
Property broker Christie & Co has backed the strength of the UK pharmacy market at PharmacyForum in Spain, pointing to growing buyer demand and the sector's work to add new clinical services as key drivers.
What happened
Speaking at PharmacyForum, representatives from Christie & Co — the specialist business property adviser that handles a significant share of UK pharmacy sales — described the pharmacy market as being in a strong position. The broker highlighted how pharmacies adding services beyond dispensing have helped sustain and grow demand from buyers looking to acquire community pharmacy businesses.
Christie & Co regularly tracks pharmacy transaction volumes and valuations across the UK, making its commentary a useful barometer for the sector's commercial health.
Why it matters
For anyone planning to work in community pharmacy — which is most pre-registration trainees — the financial health of the sector shapes the job market you'll enter. When buyer demand for pharmacies is strong, owners are more willing to invest in staffing, services, and infrastructure. When it's weak, you tend to see consolidation, branch closures, and hiring freezes.
The broker's comments also reflect a broader shift happening across community pharmacy. Pharmacies that have expanded into services — think blood pressure checks, oral contraception supply, Pharmacy First consultations — are generating income streams that make them more attractive to buyers. That commercial logic has reinforced the case for pharmacies to take on more clinical work, which in turn creates more varied roles for early-career pharmacists.
It's not a guarantee of easy employment. But a market where pharmacies are seen as worth buying is a better backdrop than one where owners are looking for the exit.
GPhC exam relevance
The GPhC Common Registration Assessment doesn't test pharmacy business valuations, but it does test your understanding of the systems community pharmacists work within. Questions on Pharmacy First, advanced services, and the NHS contractual framework all connect to the commercial and clinical reasons why pharmacies are expanding their offer. Understanding why services like hypertension case-finding or contraception consultations exist — not just how to deliver them clinically — helps you answer scenario questions with more confidence.
The assessment also tests professionalism and your ability to apply standards in real-world settings. Community pharmacy is one of the most common practice contexts in the exam, so knowing the pressures and opportunities shaping that sector gives you sharper situational awareness.
What's next
Watch how the Pharmacy First service develops over the coming months. NHS England's decisions on funding, the range of clinical pathways included, and uptake data will all influence whether the commercial optimism Christie describes holds through 2025 and into 2026.
If you're approaching the end of your training year, it's worth looking at Christie & Co's published pharmacy market reports — they're free to access and give a concrete picture of where community pharmacy is heading commercially. Pair that with keeping your Pharmacy First clinical knowledge current, since those consultations are both exam territory and increasingly central to what community pharmacy employers expect you to do from day one.
Source: Chemist+Druggist — https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/news/business/in-a-good-place-christie-backs-strong-pharmacy-market-5D7GGSUVYZGH7DPYLVBQOQHSX4/