Chemist Boots prescribes 700 job cuts as part of turnaround
HIGH street chemist Boots revealed yesterday it plans to cut as many as 700 non-store roles as part of a major overhaul of its entire business.
Boots, which completed its megamerger with US giant Walgreens last year, said the move was part of its efforts to “simplify” operations and “address the rapidly changing needs of its customers”.
Around half of the job cuts will take place at the firm’s head office in Beeston, Nottingham, with some staff being made redundant and others retained or redeployed to other parts of the business.
Boots employs around 60,000 people in the UK, including 4,000 at its headquarters. It has more than 2,500 stores as well as 630 branches of Boots Opticians.
Boots president, Simon Roberts, said: “While we have continued to deliver a solid performance in recent years, despite challenging market conditions, we cannot be complacent and must be stronger and more agile going forward, to meet the fast-changing expectations of our customers.”
He added that Boots remained “fully committed” to its presence in Nottingham, where it was founded.