A consortium of first-time buyers from the Midlands have bought two community pharmacies on Cumbria’s west coast.

Sridhar Maturi, Naveen Kumar Anisetty, Varun Dara and Ananth Kumar completed a deal to buy F C Whelan Pharmacy and Harrington Pharmacy [pictured] for an undisclosed price.

Harrington Pharmacy said it dispenses an average of 7,125 items a month, while F C Whelan Pharmacy in Workington dispenses 8,400 items.

Christie and Co, the company that brokered the deal, said the pharmacies “were run by two long-standing owners, both of whom decided to sell to retire".

Karl Clezy, director-medical at Christie and Co who handled the sale, said: “We marketed the two pharmacies separately and received a mix of offers for them both individually and as a pair.

“Over the last couple of years, the pharmacies have enjoyed an upturn in business which helped attract interest from buyers located across England, with the sale concluding to buyers from the Midlands.”

Clezy said “these types of pharmacies” which are found “in more outlying areas” attract “more interest from owner pharmacists".