Boots UK's branch at Highcross Shopping Centre in Leicester (contractor code FKX65, LE1 1DD) recorded approximately £1,166,261 in annual NHS dispensing revenue according to PharmSee's analysis of NHSBSA dispensing contractor data — the highest single-branch figure across PharmSee's 14-city branch-level pharmacy audit.

The figure represents approximately 904,078 dispensed items over the most recent 12-month period in the dataset.

Scale in context

To put the £1.16 million in perspective, PharmSee's atlas offers several comparison points:

FKX65 generates more annual NHS dispensing revenue than the combined output of three average Birmingham B1 Boots branches. It exceeds the total combined revenue of Bridlington's two highest-revenue rural pharmacies.

What drives £1.16 million from a single branch?

Several structural factors may contribute to a city-centre Boots branch recording this level of dispensing activity, though PharmSee does not have access to Boots UK's internal operational data:

GP practice density. The LE1 5WW 3-mile catchment contains 115 GP practices — among the highest in PharmSee's atlas. High GP density creates a large pool of potential prescription referrals within walking distance.

Shopping-centre footfall. Highcross is Leicester's principal covered retail destination. Pharmacy branches embedded in high-footfall shopping centres tend to capture prescription volumes from a wider geographic draw than neighbourhood branches, including commuters and shoppers who may not live within the immediate postcode.

Item volume. At 904,078 items, FKX65 dispenses approximately 2,478 items per day — roughly 4 to 5 times a typical community pharmacy's daily throughput, suggesting extended opening hours, multiple dispensing stations, or both.

The outlier effect on ring averages

FKX65's scale has a measurable distortion effect on Leicester's headline Boots figures. The LE1 3-mile ring contains seven operating Boots branches with a combined average of £244,536 per branch. Excluding FKX65, the average drops to £90,914 — a 2.7× difference.

This pattern is not unique to Leicester. PharmSee has documented similar single-branch outlier effects in Plymouth (where the Boots operating average is heavily influenced by the Drake Circus flagship) and Liverpool (where Wirral-side branches inflate the city-wide average). The Leicester case is the most extreme measured, with a 4.8× multiplier between FKX65 and the next highest branch (FAF98, £128,060).

Methodological note: when comparing city-level Boots operating averages across PharmSee's atlas, the presence or absence of a single flagship outlier can shift a city's ranking by several positions. PharmSee recommends reporting both the raw average and the outlier-excluded average for any catchment containing a branch with more than double the ring median.

Leicester's broader pharmacy landscape

Leicester LE1 5WW at 3 miles contains 99 pharmacies serving 115 GP practices. The GP-to-pharmacy ratio of 1.16:1 places Leicester in the mid-range of English cities PharmSee has audited — below Liverpool's 1.42:1 but above Birmingham's 1.10:1.

The city's pharmacy market is served by a mix of independent operators and national chains, with the independent sector forming the majority of contractor codes, consistent with the pattern PharmSee has documented across all 14 cities in its branch-level audit.

Caveats

Revenue figures are derived from PharmSee's analysis of publicly available NHSBSA dispensing data and reflect NHS-contracted dispensing activity only. Private dispensing, retail sales, and enhanced services not captured in the NHSBSA dataset are excluded. The £1,166,261 figure should not be interpreted as total branch turnover. NHSBSA data has reporting lag; the most recent quarter may not reflect current operational status.

Search Leicester pharmacies on PharmSee's analytics tool, or explore salary data for the East Midlands on the salary tracker.

Sources: NHSBSA dispensing contractor records; PharmSee database (13,147 pharmacies, 5.3M+ dispensing records, 35 months of data).