From this morning, 281 Sainsbury’s pharmacies will officially become LloydsPharmacy branches as part of a transaction agreed last year between J Sainsbury Plc and Celesio UK. Over 2500 new people have joined the LloydsPharmacy network today and when they arrived for work they were greeted with a welcome card and video message from managing director Cormac Tobin.
Overnight on 31st August, 277 in-store pharmacies received new counter and shelf edge point of sale materials and all pharmacy teams will be sporting the new uniform and name badges when they open for business today. Four hospital pharmacies have also been transferred as part of the transaction.
All 277 Sainsbury’s pharmacies have been linked to a ‘buddy’ LloydsPharmacy store. Every LloydsPharmacy in Sainsbury’s will be visited by a colleague from their buddy store today to meet their new colleagues and provide operational support. Each store will also be supported by an Area Manager and an Integration Coach who will be visiting the pharmacy teams within the first week. Integration Coaches have been appointed to support the stores and ensure that their transition into the LloydsPharmacy business is a smooth and successful one.
Customers will notice new pharmacy bags and labels from today and a programme of rebranding the pharmacies and introducing the LloydsPharmacy service-led approach has begun. This will be a gradual process over an eight month period.
Cormac Tobin said: “I’m delighted that today we can officially welcome our new colleagues from Sainsbury’s as they become part of the Celesio UK family of businesses and make a wonderful addition to our LloydsPharmacy retail network of stores.
“Sainsbury’s is a fantastic fit for us, we share similar values and aspirations and we are both passionate about excellent customer service and making a positive impact on the communities we serve. Together we will create even greater opportunities and give our customers and patients compelling reasons to come back to us time and time again.”
With the addition of Sainsbury’s pharmacies, there are now around 1800 LloydsPharmacy branches employing more than 19,000 people.
