Morrisons has started to sell pharmacies across its UK supermarket estate as it seeks to reduce debt and focus on its retail operations, reported The Telegraph.
A review found that many of the supermarket chain’s pharmacy sites were financially unviable.
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The process is part of chief executive Rami Baitiéh’s plan to cut £1bn ($1.32bn) in costs at the private-equity-owned retailer.
Several pharmacies have already been sold to individual buyers.
Management aims to sell dozens of its more than 100 in-store pharmacy sites by early next year.
The sites are being sold individually rather than as a portfolio.
Several independent pharmacies have acquired a small number of locations while existing management has taken over other sites.
Boots had previously been identified as a potential buyer but has not acquired any sites.
Retail Insight Network has contacted Morrisons for comment.
A restructuring last year resulted in the closure of four pharmacies, 52 cafes, 17 convenience stores, 35 meat counters and 13 florists.
Baitiéh said the cuts were a “necessary part of our plans to renew and reinvigorate Morrisons”.
He has also warned of an “avalanche of costs” weighing on the supermarket.
Morrisons lost almost £1bn last year, and its debt rose to £7.5bn, despite a 2.8pc increase in like-for-like sales in the 12 months to October 2025.
Morrisons reported third-quarter like-for-like sales growth of 3.2%, its 15th consecutive quarter of such growth.
Total sales for the quarter to 26 July 2026 were £4.1bn ($5.48bn), while the company also increased its market share compared with the same period last year.
Earlier this month, the supermarket chain entered a partnership with Instacart-owned e-commerce fulfilment provider Instaleap to enhance its online ordering and in-store fulfilment capabilities.
Via Instaleap’s technology, Morrisons will be able to manage orders from marketplace partners, including Uber Eats, Just Eat, and Deliveroo, through a single, unified system.
