Summary Q1 2026:

Irish Economy

The Central Bank released its forecast for domestic economic growth over the next three years, with modified domestic demand (MDD) – a measure of economic performance that accounts for the distorting effects of multinational firms – estimated at 4.9% in 2025, and expected to grow by 2.4%, 2.8%, and 3.4% in 2026, 2027, and 2028 respectively.

Medicine Supply and Pricing Agreement

The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) and Medicines for Ireland (MFI) have in principle reached a new Framework Agreement on the Supply and Pricing of Medicine with the
Government, replacing the existing framework agreement which has been in place since 2021. The new agreement will run until 31st December 2029.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Fitzgerald Power released a pharmacy sector Mergers & Acquisitions Report in Q1 2026, which estimated 98 pharmacy sector transactions over the 36-month period from 2023 to 2025. Data from this report is included in a later section of this report and shows a healthy mergers and acquisitions market in the sector.

Global Economy

A global energy crisis is developing following the closing of the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the war between the United States and Israel, and Iran. The conflict could impact up to 15%-20% of the global supply of oil, and potentially lead to a global oil supply shock, economic recession and food crisis.

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Almost every SME out there knows a few things to be true: that being stretched too thin is their day-to-day, that the idea of reviewing retail pricing feels like a mammoth task, and that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. But, as an organisation that regularly conducts valuations, we’ve seen first-hand how re-evaluating one’s retail structure can be a game-changer in order to foster long-term, sustainable growth. Even small, well-informed pricing adjustments particularly across OTC and front-of-shop (FOS) categories can deliver a meaningful impact on profitability without increasing footfall.

Given that the time in which we now live has been marred with economic uncertainty, increased labour costs and a deteriorating geopolitical situation, it’s imperative that business owners become comfortable with adaptation to survive, with pricing strategies, and as such, profitability among the top of that list. Whether that’s value-based pricing, dynamic or competitive is entirely up to you, but what’s not debatable is that this strategy should be regularly reviewed. Here’s why.

Why should I review my retail pricing?

As we are all too aware, Ireland and the UK are currently experiencing a rapidly changing economic environment with high inflation, low unemployment, increasing interest rates and one that is particularly prevalent in the Pharmacy sector, fluctuating supply chain issues. Amongst all of these uncertainties, it’s critical that you remain certain of the things you can control for your business. In this case, pricing.

Irish pharmacies are operating in a uniquely constrained environment:

• Dispensing income is largely controlled through HSE reimbursement structures.
• Wage costs continue to rise in a tight labour market.
• Supplier pricing and margins are under pressure.
• Retail competition, particularly from large chains and online is intensifying.

This means that your controllable margin is increasingly driven by OTC and front-of-shop performance. Yet, this is often the area that receives the least structured pricing attention. If retail pricing is not reviewed regularly, pharmacies risk:

• Eroding margins on high-volume OTC lines.
• Missing opportunities to optimise premium or specialist products.
• Falling out of line with local competitors.
• Undervaluing convenience, service and expertise.

Where Should You Focus? (OTC & Front of Shop)

Unlike prescription items, where pricing is often fixed or restricted, OTC and FOS categories give you real commercial control.

These include:

• Vitamins & supplements.
• Skincare & beauty.
• Pain relief & seasonal products.
• Baby care.
• Wellness products.
• Gifts and discretionary retail.

This is where pricing strategy can and should be actively managed. Some key considerations when you are reviewing are:

• Are you pricing premium brands appropriately, or undercharging?
• Are known-value items (e.g. paracetamol) aligned with local competitors?
• Are you protecting margin on convenience purchases?
• Are slow-moving lines priced correctly to clear?

Many pharmacies default to supplier RRP but this often leaves margin on the table or creates inconsistencies across categories.

How often should I review?

Prices should be reviewed regularly, particularly in light of changing OTC / FOC cost prices which impact the retail price and the retail margin. We would suggest:

• Quarterly reviews of key OTC/FOS categories.
• More frequent reviews (monthly) on high-volume or seasonal lines.

Immediate review where:

• Supplier costs change.
• A competitor opens or adjusts pricing.
• Sales patterns shift significantly.

Staying informed about economic trends, as well as the needs of your consumers will also allow you to make informed decisions when price reviewing. Moreover, you can minimise risks and maintain a competitive advantage by proactively managing pricing in response to economic shifts.

How Do You Decide What to Charge?

Effective pricing isn’t guesswork it’s a combination of data, positioning and local knowledge.

Start with:

1. Know Your Numbers

• Understand your gross margin by category, not just overall.
• Identify your top 50–100 selling OTC products.
• Analyse what’s driving profit, not just volume.

2. Benchmark Locally

• What are nearby pharmacies charging?
• Where are you positioned — value, mid-market or premium?

Fitzgerald Power can help you here as we provide a benchmarking service.

3. Segment Your Products

• Not all products should be priced the same way.
• Known-value items → stay competitive.
• Specialist / premium products → price for value, not cost.
• Impulse / convenience items → protect margin.

4. Understand Your Customer

Your customers aren’t just buying products — they’re buying:

• Trust.
• Advice.
• Convenience.
• Accessibility.

That gives you more pricing power than you might think, particularly in community pharmacy.

How Do You Communicate Price Changes?

Price sensitivity is real but so is customer understanding.

The key is clear and confident communication:

• Be transparent where appropriate (especially for services).
• Ensure pricing is consistent and logical across categories.
• Avoid frequent erratic changes, aim for structured adjustments.

Customers are far more accepting of pricing when it feels considered and fair.

How Fitzgerald Power Can Help

Pharmacy is at the core of what we do. We work with pharmacy owners across Ireland to:

• Review and optimise retail pricing structures.
• Analyse margins across OTC and front-of-shop categories.
• Support financial strategy and profitability planning.
• Prepare businesses for growth, succession or sale.

As Ireland’s leading advisor to the community pharmacy sector, we combine deep sector knowledge with practical, commercial insight. Learn more and get in touch HERE.

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In Fitzgerald Power’s interview series, we’re speaking to people with different perspectives who feel they can offer more to the workplace, from the water cooler all the way up to the C-Suite. Today, it’s Dr. Matt Kennedy, the Global Head of Client Transformation, from the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Ireland on how choosing sustainable practices within your business model does as much for your earnings as it does for the planet. 

Matt Kennedy has certainly been around the block. A chartered environmental professional and energy engineer with over 25 years’ experience in delivering national and international transformation and climate change initiatives, Kennedy has built a career in providing policy advice and thought leadership for clients, resulting in a global reputation. “The main functions I oversee are support to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) clients in Ireland, under the four briefs in my portfolio: R&D, Sustainability, Talents and Skills and Digital. It’s really about the existing clients within Ireland and helping them to transform; become more innovative, decarbonise, build more resilience in the business, and all the things that you’d expect.”

An internationally recognised expert when it comes to developing policy advice across governments and providing advice to businesses, we begin by asking him what the biggest hurdle is for those looking to integrate sustainable initiatives into their business. It tends to be more than one, he says. “What I would say is that there’s a real focus on decarbonisation,” he says. “Because there is a price on carbon, manufacturers can justify the financial investment – as they get the economic and environmental benefit – in addition to resilience across their business. Some challenges exist for services-type companies, whether FDI or indigenous, that don’t own their own buildings. So encouraging businesses to deliver adaptive measures and to deliver circularity measures can deliver value for all companies.”

Sustainability, in business terms, tends to be talked about in the wrong way. Most of the time, people apply a boundaried lens to it, considering merely the carbon footprints and/or recycling bins. Much of Kennedy’s job is about highlighting the bigger picture, such as resilience through a changing world, or creating a hospitable environment for FDI. “I’ve been in the sustainability business for 25 years,” he smiles. “And it’s been called different things throughout that time. At the moment, a major hook from the sustainability side is how companies link themselves to competitiveness and productivity, and become more sustainable in a way that delivers benefits and value to the business. You could argue that there’s always been a need for an economic driver as well as a social and environmental driver… But ultimately, at the moment, a lot of the focus now is on competitiveness as a narrative or a language or a buzz term, rather than social sustainability, ESG or compliance.”

So much has changed in recent years, he continues, that thankfully, more corporations than not are seeing the myriad benefits available to those thinking green. “A lot of the FDI clients in Ireland have climate pledges that are well in advance of what government pledges are. For example, Ireland, as a country, wants to be net zero by 2050, but a lot of the major FDI clients in Ireland want to be net zero by, say, 2042. So, you know, they’re very conscious that they need to report on their actions. Their shareholders are also expecting them to have sustainable operations, because it’s really good for their economic resilience. And I think that has really changed in the past 5-10 years. Back then, your sustainability officer was over on the left hand side of a business in an organisation structure. Now, an entire sustainability consideration is incorporated through the business and also providing economic value as well as upskilled employees.”

That said, there are challenges. “The main one being that some organisations don’t know where to start,” he says. “They’re also looking across their competitors to see what their competitors are doing, and sometimes they don’t want to be the first to move. So you have market challenges, return and investment challenges, but ultimately, those who are ambitious tend to embrace and deliver quite a large solution.”

Before the IDA, Kennedy worked at Arup, where he held the position of European Sustainable Development & Global Climate Strategy Leader, with previous experience from International Climate Consultancy, Tyndall National Institute and SEAI. Before that again, he was the lead EU negotiator at the Paris Agreement climate negotiations (COP21) and previously Chair of the UN Climate Technology Centre. “Nothing happens in the 10 or 14 days within COP,” he smiles. “I was responsible for technology transfer and trade, which ended up being Article 10 [of the Paris Agreement] for those really interested. And so the first thing about communicating across 27 Member States was to get clear agreement and lines. And that involves bringing people together, sharing what the red lines are and what lines of intersection are, and ultimately whether we could proceed.” A shrewd negotiator, much of Kennedy’s role focuses on communicating, often effectively, difficult subjects to global bodies. His best tip when it comes to effective communication? Leaving out the element of surprise. “The most important thing from the EU position, in advance of COP 21 in Paris, was to communicate to other regions what the EU position was, so that it didn’t become a surprise when you landed. That strategy bore great fruit because the EU then built alliances with like-minded regions that have the same goals. So rather than, you know, in a very strict poker game – our prisoner’s dilemma, as the negotiations are often called – the EU position was very frank and very clear from the start, especially around intellectual property, innovation and the importance of investment within southern hemisphere countries. You never really know who shares your ideals without expressing them in advance.

And that then led us to build great alliances with African states, Asian states, Latin American states, etc.”

While becoming a sustainable business isn’t a matter of just flipping a switch, it is worth the effort – particularly considering that consumers are increasingly aware of the impact of what they choose, buy and throw away. According to a 2020 McKinsey survey, up to 70% of respondents said they’d pay more for a product with sustainable packaging, and that number is only going one way. Kennedy, an eternal optimist, insists everyone has a part to play. “There’s a role for every sector,” he says. “That’s the first thing in terms of sustainability. Looking back, while environmental NGOs have had a strong stance on environmental integrity, it was corporations, including B-Corps, in the 80s that really pushed this forward. Now there may be scepticism, but ultimately, because of the major emissions that have occurred in the last 30 years, corporations now need to own and be responsible for their past and future emissions. Today, there is a significant role for corporations in avoiding greenwashing and gaining clarity on measurement and reporting for their transparency and accountability regarding emissions. We have come a long way in the last five years in terms of those standards, and mainstreaming those standards has become really important.”

Is it too late to start now? “I’m forever an optimist,” he says. “But time is of the essence. You know the decisions you make now in terms of infrastructure, fossil fuel infrastructure, and low carbon, will last for 30-40+ years. So we are running out of time to maintain targets for emissions reductions and broader greenhouse gas emissions, but we will not get there without action from industry. We will not get there without research informing our science from academia. And we will not get there without environmental organisations being the watchdog for such corporations to make sure that they act responsibly and are accountable for their own emissions reduction. Yeah, so everyone plays a role. I’d like to see it happening a little faster… but sometimes these corporations are very big ships. It takes a while for them to turn in the right direction.”

For more information on Dr Matt Kennedy’s work, check out his website here – https://matthewkennedy.org/.

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The latest Tax Pulse report highlights the most important tax developments impacting Irish businesses in 2026. From VAT reform to compliance trends, here’s what you need to know.

1. Strong Tax Performance and Increased Compliance

Ireland recorded €106 billion in tax receipts in 2025, alongside high levels of voluntary compliance and over 290,000 Revenue interventions.

Takeaway: Expect continued focus on compliance and targeted audits.

2. VAT Modernisation and eInvoicing

Mandatory eInvoicing and real-time reporting are on the way, with large businesses required to comply from November 2028.

Takeaway: Start preparing systems now to avoid disruption.

3. Changes to VAT Grouping Rules

VAT grouping is now limited to Irish entities, potentially bringing cross-border transactions into scope for VAT.

Takeaway: Review structures before the December 2026 transition deadline.

4. iXBRL Filing Update

From January 2026, only final signed financial statements will be accepted for iXBRL submissions.

Takeaway: Ensure accounts are completed within required timelines.

5. Revenue Updates and Key Deadlines

• Extended Pay & File deadline to 18 November 2026
• Incentives for energy-efficient investment extended to 2030
• Key tax deadlines across April–June 2026

Takeaway: Plan ahead to stay compliant and maximise available reliefs.

The direction is clear – greater digitalisation, tighter rules, and more active enforcement. Early preparation will put your business in the strongest position to adapt and stay compliant.

At Fitzgerald Power, we’re committed to delivering practical guidance that makes tax easier to understand and act on. Tax Pulse is designed to give you quick, clear insights so you can make confident decisions and stay compliant without the stress.

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At first glance, the price of a coffee might seem trivial. But when tracked consistently across global cities, it becomes a useful and relatable indicator of discretionary spending and cost-of-living pressures.

Introducing the Latte Index: Fitzgerald Power’s quarterly snapshot of the price of a standard Starbucks latte across key international cities, converted into euro using ECB exchange rates.

While simple in concept, the index offers a lens into broader economic dynamics: wage levels, rent pressures, currency movements, and, importantly, consumer tolerance for rising prices.

Q1 2026 Snapshot

In Q1 2026, London ranks as the most expensive city for a latte at €5.93, followed closely by Dublin (€5.65) and New York (€5.60). At the other end of the spectrum, Tokyo remains significantly more affordable at €3.48.

This spread highlights more than just pricing differences, it reflects structural cost variations across economies.

Dublin: Converging with High-Cost Cities

Dublin’s position is particularly notable.

Despite being a smaller market than London or New York, Dublin’s latte price sits firmly within the top tier. This suggests that cost pressures in the Irish economy are aligning with those seen in larger global cities.

Key drivers include:

• Persistently high commercial rents
• Rising wage expectations in hospitality
• Strong urban demand supporting premium pricing

In effect, Dublin is behaving like a high-cost global city — without necessarily having the same scale advantages.

The Role of Currency and Local Cost Structures

Currency movements also play a role.

For example, New York appears marginally cheaper than Dublin in euro terms, partly due to exchange rate effects. However, underlying local costs, particularly labour, remain high.

Similarly, Tokyo’s lower price point reflects both a weaker yen and a fundamentally different cost structure, where wages and rents remain comparatively subdued.

Consumer Behaviour: A Tipping Point?

Perhaps the most important insight from the Latte Index is not the price itself, but what it signals about consumer behaviour.

Across many developed economies, consumers have absorbed sustained increases in everyday costs — from coffee to energy. However, there are signs that this tolerance is being tested.

Recent protests linked to rising living costs and energy prices highlight a growing sensitivity to affordability. While a latte is a small discretionary purchase, it sits within a broader basket of spending that households are increasingly scrutinising.

The question is no longer whether prices can rise, but how far they can rise before behaviour changes.

Why It Matters

The Latte Index is not intended to be a definitive economic measure. Rather, it complements traditional indicators by grounding macroeconomic trends in something tangible and widely understood.

It provides:

• A relatable benchmark for discretionary spending.
• A comparative view across international markets.
• An early signal of pressure points in consumer affordability.

Looking Ahead

Fitzgerald Power will track the Latte Index on a quarterly basis, building a clearer picture of how consumer prices evolve over time — and what that means for businesses operating in Ireland and beyond.

Because sometimes, the most meaningful economic insights aren’t found in complex models…

…but in the price of your morning coffee.

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In Fitzgerald Power’s interview series, we’re speaking to people with different perspectives who feel they can offer more to the workplace, from the water cooler all the way up to the C-Suite. Today, it’s Orla Hennelly of Ireland’s premier beauty hack destination, ItsBeautyCheats.

Becoming an entrepreneur, for Orla Hennelly, kind of came out of the blue. “I always loved fashion, and I wanted to work in it, so I ended up doing Communications in DCU, because I thought I wanted to do fashion journalism,” she says. “But that was a long time ago.” Looking back, it was actually through her time in retail that she first realised a penchant for figuring out how the sausage gets made. “I used to like seeing what was coming in and thinking about what would sell and what wouldn’t, so, from there, I realised I wanted to work further back in the supply chain.” She enrolled in a Master’s in Fashion Buying and Management, and from that, got an internship in Dunnes Stores’ Buying Department, where she stayed for seven years. “I loved it, I loved buying things, designing products and seeing them come to life.”

It was around that time that Hennelly was making the professional personal, by choosing the outfit she’d wear for her own wedding. “I really wanted to wear these heavy, vintage earrings for my wedding, but I hated how they were dragging down my earlobes, so I thought, why isn’t there a product that solves this issue?” With a quick Google to see that no such product existed in the Irish marketplace, ItsBeautyCheats was born in November 2023, with a chunk of Hennelly’s own savings and a desire to fix problems for women with similar needs. “In terms of actually launching the business, it wasn’t a hugely expensive product for my first, so I took money out of my savings, and I just thought to myself that if this doesn’t work, whatever. I’ll wrap it up.” Now three years later, ItsBeautyCheats is stocked in Arnotts, One Dame Lane, Ór Jewellery and a suite of pharmacies. Not to mention, it closed 2025 with 100% revenue growth YOY. “It’s going well,” she smiles, bashfully. “Ups and downs, but good overall.”

ItsBeautyCheats bills itself as the ultimate beauty-hack destination and the home of LobeLifts, the innovative earlobe protection patch that prevents earlobe stretching and tearing from heavy earrings. Their products seek to address a range of beauty-related grievances, from necklaces that don’t tangle to discreet, comfortable body tape. Once the success of LobeLifts, the business’s original name, took off – by way of Hennelly’s own marketing and a bit of luck with TikTok virality – eight months later, the business took on its current moniker. “I built the website myself. I kept costs really low, and suddenly I had this niche product that was doing really well,” she says. “As a result, I had to lean into the randomness of it all, and then started listening to consumers who had other beauty-related problems that needed fixing. To this day, I take all my ideas and theirs down in the Notes app on my phone.”

A business penned as a discrete problem solver proved enough to impress the Pitch team at Arnotts – a business accelerator initiative from Arnotts, created to empower innovative start-ups and entrepreneurs based in Ireland or Northern Ireland – and indeed the women of Ireland, many of whom thank Hennelly regularly for catering to needs in a way no one had before. “I remember coming home from a wedding with a friend and helping her take this body tape off, which was literally ripping her skin,” Hennelly says. “I just thought to myself, there has to be a better version of this.” ItsBeautyCheats’ subsequent body tape, priced at €18.95, includes 5 oil-based removal wipes for effortless, skin-friendly removal, and is now one of the brand’s best-sellers. “I’m fortunate enough that every product is close to best-seller status at the moment,” she says. “It feels like whichever one I push the most becomes the best seller, and I’ve had to restock everything. Like, there hasn’t been one product that I haven’t had to purchase multiple times, so it’s been brilliant. What I really love to see, though, is when someone buys one thing and within a matter of weeks they buy another for their friends.”

With just Hennelly at the helm, aside from the occasional contractor, her job spans a multitude: from the back-of-house – quality control, market research, customer service, to the front – courier, social media, marketing. “My family is great,” she says. “My brother has been packing orders, and my husband drives around the place delivering stock. I’m hoping to take someone on soon, but until then, it’s just me.” It seems ludicrous, then, that among her biggest competitors is Amazon. “I do think the people who follow my story and my social media accounts are willing to buy Irish over Amazon,” she says. “It is tough to compare, though, especially with shipping. Like, I ship with An Post, and it randomly went from €5.95 to €6.95 last month, which was huge. For my products that are €12.95, asking for €6.95 shipping is huge, so I didn’t put it up, I’m just taking the hit on that euro.” In times of panic, Hennelly turns to other female entrepreneurs in the business for help. “I can’t get over the support from women in particular,” she says. “I say this all the time, from the influencers and micro-influencers I work with, to those who run pharmacies and helped me get it in stock, to anyone going through the same thing. I had a disaster with a TikTok Shop video two weeks ago, and I wrote to so many other women business owners, and they couldn’t have been more helpful. Then customers with reviews and comments… My biggest takeaway is that Irish women are incredibly supportive all around.”

Today’s SME landscape is undeniably difficult, and despite a wealth of available resources out there – like Enterprise Ireland’s Going for Growth, the programme for ambitious female entrepreneurs across all sectors in Ireland that Hennelly is currently enrolled in – many continue to face significant operational challenges. “The number one thing for me at the moment is just trying to find the time to do everything before I can afford to hire someone,” she says. “I’m lecturing in Buying and Merchandising at the Portobello Institute two days a week to help pay the bills, we have a 10-month-old at home, and my husband works full time, so it’s just finding the time. Apart from that, I would also say it’s hard to get funding. I’ve been working with the local Enterprise Office, which has been great, but it’s just the cash flow issue that is really difficult. I would love to inject a load of cash into the business, and I know it would come back, but just getting it that’s the issue.”

Just last month, Hennelly announced that ItsBeautyCheats closed 2025 with 100% revenue growth YOY and tripled their online sales. How has that informed Orla’s vision for 2026? “I would say, year one, I didn’t have much wholesale at all,” she says. “Year two, I really pushed the wholesale aspect, and that was kind of increasing the revenue. Underneath that, profit wasn’t a 100% increase, so this year, I’m back to pushing direct-to-consumer sales. The wholesale is brilliant, and obviously, I won’t give that up, but to be honest, the big push for me now is back to the consumers and getting them directly to the website, because the dream is to be the number one beauty hack destination online, competing with the likes of Look Fantastic. But my own products that people come back to because they’re reliable, high quality, and they know their work.”

You can follow Orla and ItsBeautyCheats on Instagram here or on the brand’s official website. 

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Irish Economy

The Central Bank raised its forecast for domestic economic growth, with modified domestic demand (MDD) – a measure of economic performance that accounts for the distorting effects
of multinational firms – expected to grow by 3.9% this year, up from a forecast of 2.9% three months ago.

Common Conditions Service

Under a new Common Conditions Service (CCS), Pharmacists will have the ability to advise and treat eight common and self-limiting conditions in pharmacies and to provide appropriate treatment. This expansion is part of a broader policy shift towards an enhanced role for community pharmacy in improving access to care.

Transparency of Medicines Pricing and Fees for Pharmacy Services

All pharmacies must display information about the cost of all professional services and range of fees by the end of 2025 and start of 2026. This guidance is to enable patients to make more informed decisions about their health and treatment.

US Medicine Prices

Under a most favoured nation pricing policy executive order, the United States President suggested he will change US drug pricing policy by tying what the US pays for prescription drugs
to the lowest prices paid by other developed countries. If successful, this is expected to increase prices in Europe, where pharmaceutical companies would be expected to push back on European governments to raise the prices they pay.

Global Economy

The global economy maintained steady but low growth in Q4 2025 due to easing inflation, continued consumer spending, and policy-driven demand from early 2025 until the end of the year. Global GDP growth for the year was c. 2.6%, slightly below IMF projections, with inflation falling from 5.8% to 5.3%.

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The central thesis is very simple. The lives of men have been taken to represent the lives of humans overall and as a result most of recorded human history is one large data gap. When it comes to the other half of humanity, the silence is often deafening. This absence of data – the failure to count, measure, and analyse the female experience – is what Perez calls the gender data gap.

If you want to understand inequality in modern society, you could do worse than starting here.

I have three smart, thoughtful children – two daughters and a son. And like most parents, I hope they all get the chance to reach their potential

But it seems unfair to think that the world is likely to provide my son with unfettered access to opportunity because he is a white male, while my daughters may have to fight for their place in it. Yet the data suggests precisely that.

Here are a few takeaways that struck me.

The Male Default

Women make up half the population, yet the female perspective is routinely treated as niche. The “default human” across medicine, economics, urban planning and technology is male – often white and middle-class. Everything else is a deviation.

The inequalities that result are not always the product of malice. Or as Perez puts it; “One of the most important things to say about the gender data gap is that it is not generally malicious, or even deliberate. Quite the opposite. It is simply the product of a way of thinking that has been around for millennia and is therefore a kind of not thinking. A double not thinking, even: men go without saying, and women don’t get said at all. Because when we say human, on the whole, we mean man.”

She cites an example where Google’s image-recognition software labelled a portly, balding, middle-aged man standing in front of a kitchen stove as “female”. Kitchens, it would seem, are a more powerful indication of gender than male-pattern baldness.

When the data is skewed, so are the conclusions.

Equality Is an Economic Issue

We often frame gender equality as a moral issue. Which it is, but it is also an economic problem.

When half the population is underrepresented in decision-making, the resulting policies, products and processes are less efficient. Markets are misread, talent is misallocated, and productivity is constrained.

Women do the vast majority of unpaid work globally – childcare, eldercare, housework. Much of the value that this work creates is invisible. But it has a value.

We tend to value what we can measure. It’s just easier.

But here’s one we can definitely measure. Women are more likely to have career breaks, so their chronological age is often older than their academic or professional age. Promotion systems and tenure clocks often fail to account for this. And that’s before you start to consider how difficult it is to re-enter the workforce after a sustained absence.

Representation Matters

In politics, balanced representation leads to more balanced legislation. When women enter legislatures in meaningful numbers, policy priorities shift – often towards health, education and social welfare.

The use of all-women shortlists by the UK Labour Party dramatically increased the number of female MPs over time. Representation changed because the mechanism for selecting candidates changed.

Contrast this approach with commentary during the 2016 US presidential election campaign where some voters suggested that Hillary Clinton was too ambitious. Running for the most powerful political office in the world undoubtedly requires ambition. Yet a reality television star with no political experience wasn’t criticised for the same trait. The difference was not ambition it was social norm violation. We associate leadership with men, and through this lens Trump was a better fit. Although history is unlikely to record it as such.

Closing the Gap

Perez’s solution is to close the representation gap, increase female participation in all spheres of life and collect gender-disaggregated data. Then analyse the data and act on it.

As more women move into positions of influence, different questions get asked. Gaps in previously held universal truths are exposed, and new ways of thinking are developed.

Sigmund Freud once posed a riddle about femininity.

“The great question,” he said, “that has never been answered, and which I have not been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul is: What does a woman want?”

The answer, as Perez points out, was staring us in the face all along.

All “people” had to do was ask women.

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Key highlights:

Transactions

• An estimated 98 single-unit pharmacy transactions occurred between 2023 and 2025.

• Transaction analysis focused on individual pharmacies and small groups of up to four locations.

• Approximately 31 pharmacies were sold in 2025, up from 27 transactions in 2024.

• Increased activity in Q4 2025 reflected improved confidence following the new Community Pharmacy Agreement.

• Pharmacies with State dispensing fees above €250K represented the largest share of deals annually.

• Mid-range transactions (€175K–€249K) declined in 2025, while smaller transactions (below €100K) increased.

• Growth in smaller sales indicates a broader and more active market environment.

• Independently owned pharmacies accounted for the majority of transactions.

• Market consolidation continued as independent pharmacies were more likely to be sold.

• Corporate group pharmacy sales increased proportionally over the review period.

• Indigenous group activity fluctuated, while symbol group disposals declined.

Transactions by location:

• Munster’s share of deal activity rose significantly from 17% to 29%.

• Connacht/Ulster experienced the largest proportional decline, falling from 23% to 9%.

• Dublin and Leinster continued to maintain strong transaction activity levels overall.

Valuation Multiples

• The average valuation multiple across the review period was 4.7x maintainable EBITDA.

• This represented a slight decrease from the previous rolling average of 4.92x.

• The decline was primarily driven by an increase in smaller pharmacy transactions rather than weakening demand.

• Larger pharmacies achieved higher valuation multiples in line with revenue scale.

• Dublin pharmacies achieved the highest average multiple at 4.99x.

• Regional valuation averages included:

  • Leinster (excluding Dublin): 4.83x

  • Munster: 4.43x

  • Connacht/Ulster: 4.63x

• Multiples ranged by turnover:

  • <€1m turnover: 3.53x average

  • €1m–€1.5m: 4.95x

  • €1.5m–€2m: 4.95x

  • >€2m: 5.67x

• Lower overall averages reflect increased buyer participation in smaller pharmacies, signalling market depth rather than weakness.

Buyers

• Of 43 analysed transactions:

  • 26 were acquired by independent operators

  • 17 were acquired by pharmacy groups

• Pharmacy groups were defined as operators holding six or more pharmacies.

• Transactions involving group buyers achieved slightly higher average multiples (4.84x) compared with independents (4.62x).

• Groups typically acquired larger pharmacies due to stronger access to capital.

• Pharmacies with revenues exceeding €2m were primarily purchased by group operators.

• Independent buyers remain a significant force within the market despite consolidation trends.

The Pharmacy Market

• The number of community pharmacies fluctuated modestly during the review period.

• The sector recorded:

  • 67 pharmacy openings

  • 57 closures between Q1 2023 and Q4 2025.

• Total pharmacy numbers reached 1,916 nationwide by Q4 2025, the highest level during the period.

• The lowest count occurred in Q1 2025 at 1,903 pharmacies.

• Growth throughout 2025 indicates improving sector confidence and sustainability.

• Overall market stability continues to underpin investment activity and lender support.

Outlook for 2026

• The September 2025 Community Pharmacy Agreement increased State reimbursement fees.

• Greater earnings visibility has strengthened buyer confidence and supported transaction growth.

• Market pricing is expected to improve as certainty around future income increases.

• Phased fee reimbursement changes may reduce payments gradually over time.

• Irish pillar banks remain supportive lenders due to pharmacies’ predictable income streams.

• Lending conditions remain conservative, with rigorous due diligence requirements.

• Buyers are typically expected to contribute at least 30% equity toward acquisitions.

• Capital requirements present challenges for first-time buyers entering ownership.

• Partnership structures are becoming more common to facilitate new entrants.

• Shareholder agreements are increasingly important in managing partnership arrangements.

• Intergenerational funding support is emerging to sustain independent ownership.

• Strong transaction volumes are expected to continue into 2026.

• Increased Capital Gains Tax Entrepreneurial Relief thresholds (€1.5m) may encourage delayed exits among pharmacy owners.

• Increased pharmacist supply is expected to further support sector growth.

How can we help?

Our team is dedicated to providing you and your business with the absolute best financial advice out there. We approach each and every case from a fresh perspective, working with you to find tailored solutions that leave your business feeling stronger than ever. With our expert analysis, we translate figures into a language you can understand. Using timely, reliable advice, our experienced team of experts devise sophisticated plans to encourage cost efficiency and growth. If you would like to discuss this research, contact our team at Fitzgerald Power today.

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Noel starts by asking Peter to give a brief overview of Financefair’s decade supporting Irish SMEs as the funding landscape continues to evolve rapidly.

Noel Winters (NW):

2025 was Financefair’s tenth year in business, congratulations! Tell me about Financefair’s early days, and journey over the past ten years.

Peter Brady (PB):

Thanks very much, Noel. Last September we marked our ten-year anniversary. Ff started by solving a very simple problem – post GFC lots of great businesses were being underserved by traditional banks, it was easier for Banks to say no rather than look at how they could support their growth. My Co-Founder, Helen Cahill, spent her career on the Treasury side of banking helping SMEs manage FX & interest rate risk – my background was in Finance – but from the other side of the fence. So, we had both seen first-hand how good businesses struggled to access growth funding. That was the genesis what was then called InvoiceFair a Platform that connected SMEs with institutional capital via Technology. We began with a single product: single invoice funding. From my previous experience using invoice discounting with banks, I understood the restrictions around concentration and geographies. If a business had a small number of large customers, or customers overseas banks often restricted funding. We took a different approach and focused on funding individual invoices instead of the entire debtor book. That reduced friction for businesses and gave them access to more flexible and larger amounts of funding.

Over the last 10 years, we’ve evolved significantly – diversified our funding base, innovated our product offering, leveraged the power of data in underwriting and monitoring and built institutional-grade risk processes.

NW:

From being in business ten years and looking at SME Ireland daily, what differences are you seeing in SME Ireland over that period, and what are the main challenges that you are seeing for business owners?

PB:

One of the main things that has changed is how businesses generate revenue. Previously, businesses relied heavily on invoicing and waiting for payment. Now, many businesses have shifted towards predictable recurring revenue models. . These provide more certainty and predictability and ultimately drive more value in the long term.

The growth of technology businesses has accelerated this shift. Many modern businesses don’t have physical assets to pledge the ones that banks traditionally lend against. Lending has become more focused on cash flow and revenue generation rather than physical collateral. For Funders like us, this means understanding the drivers behind revenue and understanding, early on, how the business works. Our products developed as this landscape evolved where businesses shifted towards recurring revenue models and scaling business in sectors that were asset-light but growing quickly.

NW:

And that leads us on to due diligence. Describe the typical due diligence process for Financefair. What kind of data points do you examine before extending credit?

PB:

An important part for us is the use of technology and data tools to get as much information as early as possible before you have a discovery call with the clients. The most crucial part of the call, however, is understanding how the business works. How does the company generate revenues ? How will the company be profitable? How will the company grow their business, what are the levers and do the management team have the capability to deliver that growth?

Once we understand the business model and the management team and we identify the risks and mitigants, we then use technology to access financial data. This includes read-only financial integrations – open and accounting banking data along with credit rating agency data. Open banking data has been a game changer for us because it gives real time visibility into cash flow, which is critical for assessing and monitoring risk. We also analyse the context behind financial metrics. For example, a balance sheet item might look negative, but on review could represent quasi-equity rather than debt.

NW:

From my experience, pillar banks use traditional metrics such as a three-year track record when assessing businesses. That track record is not there for early-stage businesses. What do you look at in those scenarios?

PB:

For early-stage businesses, we focus heavily on clarity of the business plan, quality information and operations readiness. Then we look at customers – the most important asset a company has, and banks often overlook this. We look at customer quality and mix , sales pipeline, conversion timelines, and the strength of uniqueness of the value proposition strength.

For revenue-based finance, we typically fund based on predictable recurring revenue. Funding increases as revenue grows, which reduces risk and aligns funding with business performance. It’s all about landing those early customers and having total focus on the revenue number month on month.

NW: The term ‘alternative lending’ is often used to describe the type of finance that Financefair provides, what does this mean?

PB:

Alternative lending is generally understood as non-bank lending. It is typically faster and more flexible than traditional bank funding. From our perspective, it gives access to diversified funding. The advantage of that is you’re able to take on board different risks; banks usually lend from their own balance sheet, which limits risk. In our model, we can match different risks with different funding sources and spread that risk across multiple funders. This diversification allows us to support businesses that may not fit traditional lending models. Ireland has a structural gap in SME funding due to limited banking competition. Data-driven lending and diversified funding sources help to address that gap.

NW:

Financefair’s model is gearing towards relatively early stage and scaling businesses, therefore, a riskier profile of lending. Do you experience much default within your portfolio?

PB:

I’d love to say, no, we get everything right. Our default rate has been very low, typically below 0.5%. This is not because we’re brilliant at underwriting. It’s all about the relationship and the understanding of KPIs in each of those businesses, which signal performance changes early. These might include customer churn, return on advertising spend, or operational metrics. For example, I worked with someone in manufacturing who tracked waste by how often they replaced scrap bins. That single metric gave them early visibility into production issues. So, that’s how we manage those types of risks. It’s all about openness and transparency.

We monitor a small number of meaningful KPIs for each business. This allows early intervention if performance begins to change. The strength of the balance sheet is not why a business fails. Good businesses fail only for one reason: they run out of cash. Understanding cash flow and business drivers is critical to managing risk.

NW:

Are you seeing any trends developing in any sectors regarding credit appetite?

PB:

I see a lot of Irish businesses in the data centre space that are doing well in the Nordics and Northern Europe. There’s a lot of growth in that area. The credit underwriting is very different from what’s typical in Ireland, because there are a lot of other risks in those countries such as very strong unions. You need to make sure you’re on side with union agreements, deductions and pay rates. That’s something you must be able to get access to and to be able to underwrite.

Irish businesses are becoming increasingly international, particularly in sectors like technology, data infrastructure and MedTech. We have funded a lot of companies that got traction in the US so it will be very interesting to see what happens now in the US market during the Trump regime.

NW:

Have you seen any changes in that environment?

PB:

The only changes we’ve seen were the introduction of tariffs at an early stage. It was interesting for us from a risk perspective. You can look at your portfolio and think there’s no problem there, but you really need to understand the supply chain and the impact of tariffs, and you need to understand how easy it is for them to disintegrate. Can you easily move somewhere else where tariffs might be lower? This is something we are much more aware of.

NW:

What does the future hold for Financefair?

PB:

Our primary focus is on growth and on broadening and deepening our funding mix so that its competitive, but also flexible – enabling us to meet the needs of scaling businesses in 2026. We’ve recently added two European banks, and we have a lot of institutional funding on the platform as well. As we scale, we can support large and more price sensitive SME requirements.

We also want to continue providing fit-for-purpose funding. Traditional funding products have not changed significantly over time. Our focus is on adapting funding to match modern business models and revenue structures.

NW:

If you were to offer one piece of advice to someone starting their scaling journey, what would that be?

PB:

I think the most important thing is to focus on business growth rather than fundraising. I’ve seen young, smart entrepreneurs focus too heavily on raising large amounts of funding early when what they should be doing is looking to get a funding line that is directly related to their growth.

When businesses focus on building revenue and profitability first, they often make better decisions. They also retain more ownership when they eventually raise equity funding, because their valuation is higher.

Fundraising is a huge diversion of time and it’s not what a business starting out should be concentrating on. It’s about getting your message, your products and your channels in place.

Until next time.

Financefair was founded by Helen and Peter, combining deep experience from both sides of the funding challenge to solve one of the biggest problems facing growing businesses: access to working capital. Frustrated by how often potential was being held back by inflexible funding, they set out to build something better. For more information, go to Financefair’s website here.

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