All ex-Jhoots pharmacies taken over by Allied Pharmacies to reopen

The company has also confirmed that all staff that have moved over to Allied Pharmacies will receive backdated pay.
Jhoots Pharmacy in Bristol, UK

All Jhoots pharmacies taken over by Allied Pharmacies will reopen over the next four to eight weeks, the company has said.

The company acquired 61 Jhoots branches in November 2025, and a further 68 branches in December 2025, following ongoing issues with the chain, which went into administration in January 2026.

Speaking to The Pharmaceutical Journal, Suhaib Abdullah, chief executive of Allied Pharmacies, said the pharmacies are reopening “on a daily basis”.

“From the first 61 [pharmacies], I think it’s about 50 that we’re already trading … and from the second [set], it’s close to 20,” Abdullah said.

He added that the pharmacies can start “immediately trading” as soon as leases have been secured.

“We’re looking at four to eight weeks for everything to start trading,” he said.

Companies House filing for the Jhoots administration attributed its £19m debt to “substantial reduction in gross profit margins and significant increases in overheads”.

“Microeconomic challenges, such as increased staff costs and higher rents, as well as stagnated NHS pricings and increased drug costs, have directly contributed to the current financial performance resulting in all sites being closed,” it added.

statement of administrators proposals, published in January 2026, for SNJ Health — which operated more than 60 Jhoots branches — said that employee wages had not been paid since July 2025.

Abdullah said that all staff that have moved over to Allied will receive backdated pay.

“We’ve backdated every employee’s pay that [has moved over], and with the second [set of pharmacies] we’re making a start.

“The staff that have left and gone to other roles will get paid through redundancy,” he added.

Suhail Sharief, financial director at Allied, acknowledged that challenges facing the pharmacy sector contributed to Jhoots’ downfall.

“There’s no doubt that there were some management failures, but the major issue is more to do with the overall global sum and the NHS funding that is actually make it challenging for anybody,” he said.

Abdullah added that this was part of it, but that there were a “lot of factors”.

“Obviously the challenges are inflation, costs are high, funding isn’t going up to reflect this … but it’s a lot of factors really,” he said, adding that there should be a focus on making pharmacy owners accountable.

In November 2025, prime minister Keir Starmer told Parliament that ministers were “working speedily to consider how to strengthen regulation” of pharmacies, in light of the situation regarding Jhoots Pharmacy.

Last updated
Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, PJ February 2026, Vol 317, No 8006;317(8006)::DOI:10.1211/PJ.2026.1.398070

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