29/10/2025
Its not just residential properties we provide services for but also commercial, gaining entry and securing this commercial property this morning.
Breaking news from Alfred - 8am Wednesday
It's game over for Shaftesbury's Jhoots Pharmacy branch. At 7am locksmiths changed the locks, and a specialist appointed by the High Court, who'd driven down from Hertfordshire this morning, posted a notice on the pharmacy door. It says that the Blackmore Vale GP practice, who own the building, have re-entered the premises, forfeiting the lease and securing the property, and it means that nobody can lawfully enter unless authorised to do so. Any attempts to enter would be a criminal offence. The notice says anybody with a claim on secured products or goods inside have until the 12th of November to come forward, otherwise the items could be sold. It's not come as any surprise.
Jhoots has experienced well-publicised financial issues, with key drug suppliers withdrawing their medicines because of non-payments. In Parliament last week, the case of Shaftesbury workers Lana Gulston and Blake Horwood, who haven't been paid by the company since July, was highlighted. They only received half their expected salary that month and the amount didn't tally with the expected sum on their payslips. MP Simon H***e raised the issue in The Commons last week, and on Alfred on Monday Simon explained that the problem of contracted pharmacies failing to deliver services was being taken seriously by Government and the Health Minister Stephen Kinnock. It seems nobody anticipated a contractor being unable to fulfil obligations because they didn't have a pharmacist available for extended periods. The Shaftesbury branch has not dispensed medicines for months. That's because Jhoots has, understandably, struggled to recruit locum pharmacists because of its reputation for slow or non-payment.
On Monday, Simon H***e said he was meeting with the Blackmore Vale GP practice to discuss options, whether the practice might become a pharmacy operator themselves, or if another provider could step in to relieve the pressure on Shaftesbury's Boots branch. We've contacted the Blackmore Vale GP practice and Simon H***e for comment this morning.
