The boss of Boots says no-one will lose their jobs despite an announcement that will see the loss of 300 stores. The company released its latest financial results on Tuesday (June 27), which showed retail sales growing by 13% and a ninth consecutive quarter of market share growth.
But the company behind Boots, the Walgreens Boots Alliance, said in its earnings call on Tuesday that the company would be closing 300 stores over the next twelve months. This will still leave 1,900 stores across the UK. No redundancies are being proposed as a result.
Despite the store closures announcement, Seb James, the Managing Director of Boots UK and ROI, said the overall results were a positive for the company. Mr James said: "Our focus on offering our customers the best in healthcare and beauty, together with a continued commitment to great value, has been well received, and it is lovely to see more people choosing to shop with Boots.
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"It is particularly pleasing to see our owned brands proving popular, including an exceptional No7 performance. I would like to thank all of our team members for their hard work in delivering these results."
Increased retail performance at Boots was driven by strong sales in areas such as skincare and pharmacy. In terms of the store closures, Boots says the move is about trying to "consolidate a number of stores in close proximity to each other."
The vast majority of closing stores are within five kilometres of one another. All affected staff will be redeployed, with no job losses proposed.
News on which stores in particular will be affected is due to be released over the coming months. Explaining the move in full, Boots said: "The successful Boots transformation plan has created a strong and stable platform for growth.
"This has included our store rejuvenation programme, which will now accelerate ongoing investment into our store estate. In addition to uplifting existing stores, over the next year Boots will continue to consolidate a number of stores in close proximity to each other.
"Evolving the store estate in this way allows Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed and focus investment more acutely in individual stores with the ambition of consistently delivering an excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up to date environment." The results also showed store footfall increasing by 6.9%, ahead of the national average, and digital sales increasing by more than a quarter.
