Well Pharmacy
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{short description|British pharmacy company}}
{{Infobox company|
| name = Well
| logo = Well Pharmacy logo.png
| type = Subsidiary undertaking
| location = {{Nowrap|Manchester, England, UK}}
| key_people = Greg Pateras, CEO
| area_served = United Kingdom
| num_employees = Circa 7,000
| industry = Retail, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, beauty
| parent = Bestway Group
| subsid = Bestway Medhub
Well Careplus
| homepage = {{url|https://www.well.co.uk}}
}}
Well, is the second largest overall pharmacy chain after the company Boots in the United Kingdom. It is the largest pharmacy chain in Wales. It is owned by the conglomerate Bestway.
The Co-operative Group, the previous owners of the chain, announced in July 2014 that they had come to an agreement to divest their pharmacy business to the Bestway Group for £620 million. The sale was completed in October 2014 and Bestway was given a licence to continue using the Co-operative brand for 12 months. In 2015, Bestway began to rebrand the company as Well.
Other retail co-operatives in the United Kingdom, such as Midcounties Co-operative, continued to operate Co-op Pharmacy branded stores, and these were not affected by the sale.
History
=The Co-operative Pharmacy=
The Co-operative Pharmacy was previously the trading name of National Co-operative Chemists, part of Co-operative Group Healthcare based in Rochdale,An industrial and provident society registered in England and Wales under the Companies Act 1985, No. 12714R and Belfast Co-operative Chemists, a wholly owned subsidiary operating in Northern Ireland. Established in 1945, National Co-operative Chemists traded in areas without a regional society pharmacy, although some independent societies (such as The Midcounties Co-operative) also operated their own in-house chemists under The Co-operative Pharmacy brand after it was introduced in 2007.
In 2001, The Co-operative Pharmacy pioneered the use of Braille on the packaging of own label medicines and, in 2012, it became the first retail pharmacy chain in the UK to become carbon neutral.{{cite news |last= Voinea |first= Anca |date=24 August 2014 |title=Dispensed: The Co-operative Pharmacy's rich and caring history |url=http://www.thenews.coop/88099/news/general/dispensed-the-co-operative-pharmacys-rich-and-caring-history/ |newspaper=Co-operative News |access-date=12 January 2015 }}
The Co-operative Doctor was an online diagnosis and treatment system.[http://www.co-operativedoctor.co.uk/about/index.cfm About the Clinic] The Co-operative Pharmacy [https://edrugsearch.com/online-pharmacy-directory/] (retrieved 25 August 2013) In 2011, The Co-operative Pharmacy teamed up with The-Clinic.com to provide clinical and medical input. The-Clinic.com’s medical services were provided by Freedom Health, which is registered with the Healthcare Commission.{{cite news |author= |title=Pharmacy launches online health services |url=http://www.thenews.coop/36177/news/consumer/pharmacy-launches-online-health-services/ |newspaper=Co-operative News |date=12 May 2011 |access-date=12 January 2015 }}
In February 2014, after suffering a £2.5bn loss for 2013, The Co-operative Group announced that it was to start exploring options to sell their pharmacy business along with other businesses in their portfolio.{{Cite news |last=Neate |first=Rupert |date=2014-04-17 |title=Co-op Group loses £2.5bn after 'fundamental failings in management and governance' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/apr/17/co-op-group-loses-billions-failings-in-management |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite news |date=2014-04-17 |title=Co-op Group reports £2.5bn loss after 'disastrous' year |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-27049101 |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
=Bestway Group=
The Co-operative Group agreed to divest the business to the Bestway Group for £620 million in July 2014.{{cite news|author=Ben Marlow|title=Bestway cash and carry empire snaps up Co-op high street pharmacies|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10975402/Bestway-cash-and-carry-empire-snaps-up-Co-op-high-street-pharmacies.html|publisher=The Telegraph|date=18 July 2014}} The sale was completed in October 2014 and Bestway were given a licence to continue using the Co-operative brand for 12 months. At the time of the acquisition Bestway Group Chief Executive Zameer Choudrey{{cite web|url=http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com//sign-in?rtn=news-and-analysis/news/bestway-aims-high-in-the-uk-pharmacy-market/20066074.fullarticle|title=Bestway aims high in the UK pharmacy market|work=Pharmaceutical Journal}} said: "We see great potential to grow the business organically and through future acquisitions".{{cite web|url=http://www.cityam.com/1405674208/co-op-group-offloads-pharmacy-business-620m|title=Co-operative pharmacy group sold to Bestway for £620m- [site:name] - City A.M.|author=Nassos Stylianou|date=18 July 2014|website=Cityam.com|access-date=2015-12-15}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/feature/two-sides-bestway-story|title=Two sides to the Bestway story - Chemist+Druggist|website=www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk|date=23 October 2014|access-date=30 January 2019}}
On 10 February 2015 during an event held in Birmingham, it was announced that "Well Pharmacy" would become the new brand for the pharmacy business and that all 780 branches would have all reference to The Co-operative Pharmacy removed and replaced with Well by the end of October 2015.{{cite web|last1=Farey-Jones|first1=Daniel|title=Co-operative Pharmacy to become Well in 780-store rebrand|url=http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1333239/co-operative-pharmacy-become-780-store-rebrand|publisher=Marketing Magazine|access-date=21 March 2015|date=10 February 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/nhs-key-to-co-op-pharmacy-rebrand-10035127.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/nhs-key-to-co-op-pharmacy-rebrand-10035127.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=NHS key to Co-op Pharmacy rebrand|author=Alex Lawson|date=10 February 2015|work=The Independent}}{{cbignore}} Chourdey {{cite web|url=http://www.pharmacy.biz/features/The+Big+Interview%3A+Zameer+Choudrey/3144|title=The Big Interview: Zameer Choudrey|website=Pharmacy.biz|access-date=2015-12-15}} had pledged to give Well strong support by committing to invest £200m{{cite web|url=http://www.slrmag.co.uk/all-is-well-with-cooperative-pharmacy-rebrand/|title=All is Well with Cooperative Pharmacy rebrand|author=Findlay Stein|work=Scottish Local Retailer Magazine|date=2 November 2015}} over the next five years to help develop and grow the business. {{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11402076/Co-operative-Pharmacy-brand-to-disappear-after-70-years.html|title=Co-operative Pharmacy brand to disappear after 70 years|date=10 February 2015|work=Telegraph.co.uk|last1=Ruddick|first1=Graham}}
In October 2015, George Osborne performed a formal opening of the Well Pharmacy head office in Manchester.{{cite web|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/george-osborne-declares-new-well-10211214|title=George Osborne declares new Well Pharmacy Manchester HQ open|author=Shelina Begum|date=7 October 2015|work=men}}
Services
Well Pharmacy is the UK's third largest pharmacy business overall, with 794 stores nationwide across the UK and Northern Ireland as of 2018.{{Cite web |title=Well Pharmacy |url=https://www.purposeawards.co.uk/finalists/well-pharmacy-ab00061 |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Purpose Awards |language=en}}
It launched an online NHS prescription service in July 2018. By January 2019, 25,184 patients had signed up.{{cite news |title=More than 25,000 patients sign up to Well's online prescription service in six months |url=https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/20206042.article? |access-date=2 March 2019 |publisher=Pharmaceutical Journal |date=24 January 2019}}
In February 2021 it formed a partnership with Push Doctor to launch what they called the country’s first pharmacy-first digital service. Patients can conduct digital consultations with pharmacists. This was launched in the Plymouth Sound primary care network and in Warrington primary care network, where Well’s clinical pharmacists work alongside GPs as part of an integrated practice team. {{cite news |title=Well partners with Push Doctor to launch 'country's first pharmacy-led digital health service' |url=https://www.pharmacy.biz/well-partners-with-push-doctor-to-launch-countrys-first-pharmacy-led-digital-health-service/ |access-date=4 February 2021 |publisher=Pharmacy Business |date=1 February 2021}}
Data breach
In late 2018, Well Pharmacy had a data breach leaking the personal information of 24,000 employees. It reportedly launched a full investigation of the data breach, which occurred due to an operating error, resulting in the distribution of an email containing personal information to various locums on 11 December 2018.{{cite web| author = Carolyn Wickware| url=https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/20205935.fullarticle?firstPass=false#cxrecs_s| access-date = 29 December 2018| title = Well Pharmacy apologises after leaking personal information in data breach| publisher = Pharmaceutical Journal| date = 20 December 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044422/https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/20205935.fullarticle?firstPass=false#cxrecs_s|archive-date=6 March 2019}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|The Co-operative Pharmacy}}
- {{official website|https://www.well.co.uk}}
Category:Pharmacies of the United Kingdom