After more than seventy years on the high street Co-operative Pharmacy are set to be rebranded and renamed as 'Well' following a £620 million buyout by the Bestway Group.
Bestway, which was founded by British Pakistani businessman Sir Anwar Pervez are known for running local convenience stores throughout the country. As well as having various business interests in Pakistan. The Bestway Group bought out the pharmacies from the troubled Co-operative last year. The co-op suffered the worst year in their 150 year history in 2013 when they announced losses £2.5 billion. Since then they have sold off many parts off the business, including a £249 million sale of its Co-operative Farms to The Wellcome trust. It then went on to sell its insurance and asset management business to Royal London in the same year for £219 million.
It is unlikely that there will be job losses along with the rebranding. Bestway boss Zameer Choudrey announced an investment of £200 million over the next five years to help the business grow. They plan to do this through refurbishments and hiring new staff. However they are planning to move from the current headquarters in the City to a new base in Manchester. The newly named 'Well' has announced that they plan to offer services to non emergency patients in an attempt to ease the burden on the NHS. Once the proposed rebranding goes ahead the new Pharmacy will be the largest in the country
