By Neil Trainis

LloydsPharmacy’s parent company McKesson UK has today announced its CEO Toby Anderson has stepped down four years after his appointment to the role.

His exit comes as speculation grows about the future of LloydsPharmacy and its remaining 1,351 branches. Last month, its 2020-21 financial accounts revealed it lost £100m in the 12 months to March 31 last year and 76 stores were closed as it focused on growing its online dispensing business.

In a statement, McKesson said Anderson’s departure would happen “with immediate effect” but the company told Independent Community Pharmacist he was not removed from his position and insisted the decision to leave was his.

Dominik Meüser from the Aurelius Group, which completed its takeover of McKesson UK, LloydsPharmacy and AAH last month, paid tribute to his leadership “during a period of great uncertainty".

“As well as helping to turnaround the profitability of our business, Toby also oversaw our inspirational response to the Covid-19 pandemic, where we ensured that our customers and patients could continue to receive the vital medicines and services they needed,” Meüser said.

“We remain focussed on delivering great services for our customers and patients across our individual businesses. Through our core businesses, LloydsPharmacy, LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare and AAH, we play a vital role in protecting the health of communities across the country and we have an exciting opportunity to grow and improve our businesses even more over the next few years.”

When asked if Anderson’s departure was a sign of Aurelius’ intention to sell off the remaining LloydsPharmacy stores, McKesson told ICP: “Aurelius Group is an expert in helping organisations like ours to reach their full potential. Under its ownership, and with our strong leadership team, we plan to accelerate our strategy to deliver continued and sustainable success. 

“In relation to [the] question about stores, as part of our routine business practices we regularly review our estate to ensure our stores are commercially viable while ensuring patient safety and colleague wellbeing. While we continually explore options, no decisions have been made.”

Anderson arrived as CEO of Celesio UK in May 2018 before its rebranding to McKesson UK in November that year. Before that, he spent 12 years at the health and beauty retailer A.S. Watson.