Allied paid £4.5 million for Jhoots Pharmacy business as creditors and employees face shortfalls

Allied Pharmacies paid £4.5 million for the business and assets of the Jhoots pharmacy group, according to a new administrators’ report that provides fresh detail on the transaction first reported last November and confirms that secured lender HSBC is expected to suffer a shortfall, while 100 employees are still owed money.

Jhoots Pharmacy Limited entered administration on 29 December 2025, following the November appointments over a number of other Jhoots entities. Ian Corfield and Rajnesh Mittal of FRP Advisory were appointed joint administrators. Four offers were received for the group’s business and assets, and, on the recommendation of secured creditor HSBC UK Bank Plc, the administrators accepted Allied Pharmacies’ £4.5 million offer. Allied paid £3 million on exchange and the remaining £1.5 million on 30 June 2026.

The sale included Jhoots’ interests in its NHS pharmacy contracts, with Allied operating relevant sites under management agreements while ownership transfers were processed. By the end of the reporting period, administrators had reviewed and signed 66 change-of-ownership applications, with 45 completed. Allied was also granted a 10-month licence to occupy 68 leasehold properties while new leases or assignments were negotiated.

Employees who remained actively employed transferred to Allied under TUPE, but the administrators later identified more than 100 former employees who had been made redundant or had left while still owed money. They have been assisting those workers with claims through the Redundancy Payments Service.

HSBC, the group’s sole secured creditor, was owed approximately £15.7 million at appointment and received an interim distribution of £800,000 in February. The administrators expect HSBC to suffer a shortfall, while HMRC and unsecured creditors are not expected to receive distributions. Investigations into the company’s affairs are continuing.

Read the administrators’ latest report here. They have been assisted by Shoosmiths, Berg Kaprow Lewis and Christies.