A “well performing” pharmacy in a town two miles west of Inverness city centre has gone to a first-time buyer for an undisclosed sum, property broker Christie & Co has said.

Kinmylies pharmacy, which dispenses an average of 5,700 items a month and lies 140 yards away from Kinmylies Medical Centre, was sold by previous owner John Ross – who owns seven other pharmacies in the north of Scotland – due to “staffing challenges,” said the brokerage, explaining that it has been “primarily run by locums”.

Locum shift booking platform Locate a Locum last year revealed that hourly rates in Inverness were higher than anywhere else in the UK at £54 per hour.

New owner Craig Dorrington has relocated his family from Glasgow and “plans to take a hands-on approach to pharmacy ownership,” said Christie & Co.

Karl Clezy of Christie & Co, who handled the sale, commented: “We managed to generate several notes of interest for this pharmacy from existing contractors and first-time buyers alike.

“Some of the buyers decided against an offer due to the shortage of pharmacists in community pharmacies, particularly in the Inverness area. It is different with the new owner as he will be running the pharmacy on a full-time basis and I’m sure he will build on what the seller has been doing for many years.”