pharmacy employees to the company. In December 2015 the sale was referred to the Competition and Markets Authority for investigation. The deal was approved and the stores have been rebranded as Lloyds. With the addition of Sainsbury’s pharmacies, there were around 1800 LloydsPharmacy branches around the UK, employing more than 19,000 people. In October 2017 Lloyds announced that it would close or sell 190 of its 1,600 shops in England and to expand its use of digital channels. Lloyds made a €12 million settlement to the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) over a dispute of phased dispensing to medical card holders. Lloyds put a patient’s monthly medication into four separate trays, one for each seven-day period. The drugs were supplied to the patient in a single visit. This boosted Lloyds income by up to €600 per year for each medical card holder. In June 2019, Lloyds acquired Echo, an online prescription fulfilment business in the UK, for an undisclosed sum. See also List of pharmacies References External links Pharmacies of the United Kingdom Pharmacy brands British companies established in 1973 Retail companies established in 1973 1997 mergers and acquisitions