Contact the PDA (
The PDA - The Pharmacists' Defence Association , or 01216947000) and let them know, they already have a large file on the subject as your friend is by no means the only pharmacist who has been submitted to this kind of bullying by this large multiple. I myself have handed in my notice from the pharmacy I had been working at for 7 years, over precisely this issue. There may well be two pharmacists who could replace your friend, but equally there are probably three other pharmacies who would happily offer her a position tomorrow, AND pay her more, too!
On the practical side: see if you can get the Area manager to confirm his/her "threats" in an email, make written records of what was said to you precisely, and by whom, on which date and at which time, as any written records may be useful to prove constructive dismissal, should it ever come to that...