Dear members,
Insolvency
The company formerly called ‘Lloyds Pharmacy Limited’ changed its name to ‘Diamond DCO Two Limited’ on 30 November 2023.
The PDA is aware that some former LloydsPharmacy pharmacists who have commenced Employment Tribunal proceedings against the company received letters from a firm of licensed insolvency practitioners on or around Christmas Eve advising them of the plans of DCO Diamond Two Limited to commence liquidation proceedings. The PDA Union has also received a similar letter.
It would appear that having disposed of the entire high street pharmacy network the new owners have opted to place the company, which is liable for matters relating to the former branches, into liquidation. In light of this development, we will need to assess what this means for the many claims that the PDA is supporting members to bring against the company for the failure to pay enhanced redundancy and other employment issues.
This is a disappointing development which complicates the progression of any claims and we are still exploring the implications as more details become known, including the extent of the total debt owed by the company.
An insolvency process will prioritise certain categories of creditors, such as HMRC, and it has been reported that HMRC are pursuing large employers for outstanding payments following its enquiry into the tax status of locum pharmacists, see here.
We will continue to monitor the situation and provide further advice in due course, but we wanted to notify you of the above at the earliest opportunity.
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