Optician and pharmacy valuations, independently prepared.

What the figure usually turns on

• NHS contract income and item volume

  For pharmacy, monthly item numbers and the contractual framework drive most of the value. For optical, NHS sight test volume sits alongside private testing and dispensing.

• EBITDA after market-rate clinical cover

  Where the owner is the pharmacist or optometrist, we deduct a market locum or employed rate before applying any multiple. That single adjustment is where most owner valuations go wrong.

• Private and retail mix

  Frames, lenses, contact lens plans, services and travel clinics carry different margins and different durability. Recurring plan income is worth more than one-off retail.

• Location, competition and footfall

  Proximity to a surgery or health centre, local competition and any planned changes to nearby prescribing all affect maintainable volume.

• Premises, lease and fit-out

  Lease length, rent review terms, freehold ownership and the age of the test rooms or dispensary fit-out all feed into the figure a buyer will pay.

Rules of thumb are a starting point, not a valuation

Per-item and turnover multiples circulate widely in these sectors. They are useful as a sense check but they ignore clinical cover cost, margin mix and lease risk, which is where value is actually won or lost.

We work on an earnings basis and cross-check against the sector rules of thumb, showing both so the figure can be defended.

Independent, with no onward mandate

We don't sell businesses and take no success fee, so nothing is written to win a listing.

The reports are used for sale preparation, purchases, partner buy-ins and buy-outs, funding and HMRC submissions.

This is for you if…

• —You're preparing to sell a pharmacy or optical practice.
• —You're buying and want the maintainable earnings tested.
• —You're admitting or buying out a partner and need a fair figure.
• —You've had an offer from a group and want it independently checked.