‘Severe hardship’: Only 6% of pharmacy owners report making a profit

Only 6% of pharmacy owners in England have reported that their business is profitable, according to a survey by Community Pharmacy England (CPE) which has placed a stark lens on the ‘severe and ongoing hardship’ faced by the sector.

Almost half (45%) of pharmacy owners also reported using personal savings to keep their businesses afloat and 99% identified finances as their top concern.

The annual CPE Pressures Survey survey was completed by over 800 pharmacy owners and 1,600 pharmacy team members, representing approximately 4,300 pharmacy premises between January and March 2025.

The pharmacy negotiator warned the ‘scale of the financial crisis facing the sector is clear’, citing rising operational costs, inflation, staff wages, medicine supply issues, and unpredictable income as key issues.

CPE chief executive Janet Morrison said: ‘The survey reveals a deeply concerning trend of pharmacy owners fighting to keep their business afloat and facing disastrous personal financial situations.

‘It is unthinkable that entrepreneurial, patient-facing health professionals who have spent their lives providing high quality NHS services, are being left in this very desperate position. Pharmacy owners should not be subsidising NHS services from their own pockets.’

Profitability of running a pharmacy business

Over half (51%) of pharmacy owners told CPE they were losing money at the start of this year. Some 42% were breaking even and only 6% reported that their business was profitable.

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A pharmacy owner from the North East of England said: ‘I have spent 48 years in pharmacy. My lifestyle is decimated. Every possession, including my home and pension, are covered by a fixed and floating debenture – everything is secured on the pharmacy.’

Rising costs lead to ‘disastrous personal financial situations’

Compared to last year, 90% of pharmacy owners said they were facing significant cost increases.

For 95% of those, this was caused by medicine purchasing not being fully covered, while 94% said it was due to increased wages for staff, and 72% cited the impact of medicine shortages.

One pharmacy owner from the North East of England said they were struggling to remain positive for their team while ‘quietly panicking’ and ‘working unpaid and exhausted’.

This was not an isolated case – many pharmacy owners have made ‘very difficult decisions’ to keep their businesses going, CPE said.

In the past year, 60% of pharmacy owners did not take a salary, 45% leaned on personal savings, 42% were forced to reduce staff headcount, 28% to reduce opening hours, and 17% to stop answering telephone calls.

One pharmacy owner from the South West of England said they were working 70 hours a week to stay afloat.

Impact on patients and staff

These financial pressures have also affected pharmacies’ ability to provide patient care.

Almost of half (49%) of the pharmacy team members said they were struggling to protect patients, but mostly managing, while a similar number of respondents (48%) said that patients were being negatively affected by the pressures in their pharmacy.

Meanwhile a quarter of pharmacy owners had stopped providing free prescription deliveries, which often benefit vulnerable or housebound patients but are not funded by the NHS.

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And 17% had stopped delivering locally commissioned services in the past year and 15% had stopped providing some national services too – such as Pharmacy First, flu vaccinations, and the New Medicine Service.

A pharmacy owner from the North East of England has reduced supplementary hours so much that their patients were having to visit other pharmacies when they are closed, according to CPE’s report.

The future of community pharmacy

CPE conducted further polling of pharmacy owners to garner their response following news of the 2025/26 pharmacy contract, which included a £841m funding uplift. It received 370 responses, representing 3,517 pharmacies.

Most pharmacy owners indicated that this investment does not address the pressures they are facing, with a fifth (21%) saying that they will not survive another year and only 9% saying that their business would be manageable in light of the funding settlement.

Anil Sharma, an independent community pharmacy owner in the East of England, said he was stressed and burnt-out from owning a pharmacy business in 2025.

He was plagued by financial worries – ‘wondering if we will be paid enough to cover our wholesaler bills; the concern that if another burned out member of staff leaves it will take us months and months to recruit again; and the lack of clarity about the future’.

CPE concluded ‘there is still a long way to go to reverse the damage and restore stability across the sector’ despite the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) funding settlement.

It called upon the NHS and the government to increase core funding and secure the long-term sustainability of the community pharmacy network.

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The CPE annual ‘pressures survey’ has been published alongside the results of a National Pharmacy Association (NPA) survey which found that six in 10 pharmacies in England are on the brink of closure.

And 94% of responding pharmacies said the latest funding settlement ‘did not bring stability to their finances’.

NPA chief executive Henry Gregg warned pharmacies ‘need support if they are to survive and achieve their full potential’.