What I took away from the Pharmacy Business Conference 2025

What I took away from the Pharmacy Business Conference 2025 By Victoria Steele It’s been just over a week since I attended the Pharmacy Business Conference at the Hilton Hotel, Wembley and my reflections on the day are incredibly positive. In my opinion, it is a must-attend event for all contractors, well-established or new. Enormous amounts of information and support packed in a digestible format, which essentially demonstrated a playbook of next steps for contractors. The day consisted of a mixture of panel discussions and direct presentations, all of which were meaningful and conveyed important information and ideas. There is no doubt that the timing of the conference couldn’t have been better, falling as it did in the week of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework Settlement announcement. I (and I think many others) were unsure as to the potential mood of the room on the day, but there needn’t have been any worry, Shailesh Solanki welcomed everyone to the conference, introduced a short video from Wes Streeting and handed straight over to Reena Barai to Chair the day, which she did beautifully. She described in such candid and honest terms how the last few months/years have been a struggle for her and the personal toll of this. The power and impact of such a well-known and admired pharmacist leaning straight into her very real struggles in such an open and honest fashion was compelling. David Webb delivered the initial keynote speech and reminded us, amongst other things, that we (pharmacy professionals) all came into this business to make a difference and improve patient outcomes. Helpful opening thoughts in the context of the day.