A pharmacy in central London that dispenses an average of 4,501 items a month has been ‘sold off’ a £1m asking price, property company Christie & Co has said.

H Lloyd Chemist’s location close to the Olympia exhibition centre and numerous hotels mean that it “benefits from a fantastic footfall,” said Christie & Co.

The pharmacy was sold by retiring former owner Venaychand Shah of Cobrest Limited to brother and sister pharmacists Amish and Rupal Patel, who also own a nearby pharmacy.

Mr Shah commented: “H. Lloyd Chemist was taken over by Cobrest Ltd in 1977, at which point it was located at 1 Russell Gardens in London; it was a small pharmacy serving a wealthy local area.

“In 2002, we relocated to 382 Kensington High Street, a fantastic location, and NHS items increased to 4,000. We retained most of our wealthy clients and the turnover increased again.

“Due to not having a tenancy protected lease, we relocated to 5 Hammersmith Road in early 2019 and again, to the pharmacy’s current location, in August 2020, at the height of COVID-19 lockdowns.

“It was a turbulent and very testing period, however, the business recovered but left me mentally and physically exhausted. We recently sold the company to Mr Amish Patel.”

 Mr Patel said: “The central London location and close proximity to London Olympia and Hammersmith station really attracted me to H. Lloyd Chemist. Looking forward, I plan to build on the platform made by the previous owner and create more revenue through clinical services.”

Jack Chard, associated director of Christie & Co’s medical division, handled the sale. He commented: “When I first met Mr Shah, he had a fantastically profitable pharmacy but, due to his lease, it had minimal goodwill value. It was my pleasure to work with Mr Shah and his family on relocating the pharmacy and then, through a competitive bidding process, finding some strong buyers who will no doubt take the business to the next level.

“The sale demonstrates the continued demand for Central London pharmacies despite concerns over the lower number of office workers in the city. There were multiple local independent pharmacy owners who made offers, illustrating that these smaller pharmacies that offer NHS and private services are in great demand.”