Boots UK

Boots UK Limited

Type	Private limited company
Industry	Pharmaceuticals Healthcare Beauty Photography
Founded	1849 (Nottingham)
Founder	John Boot
Headquarters	Nottingham, United Kingdom
Area served	United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland
Key people	Simon Roberts, managing director, Boots UK and Ireland
Brands	No. 7 and Seventeen – Makeup Soltan – Sun cream Almus – Generic drugs
Number of employees	70,000 (UK) 1,900 (Ireland)
Parent	Walgreens Boots Alliance
Subsidiaries	Boots Opticians
Slogan	Let's feel good
Website	boots-uk.com

Boots UK Limited^[1] (formerly Boots the Chemists Limited), trading as Boots, is a pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with outlets in most high streets, shopping centres and airport terminals. The company's former parent, The Boots Group PLC merged with Alliance UniChem in 2006 to form Alliance Boots.^[2] In 2007, Alliance Boots was bought by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Stefano Pessina, taking the company private, and moving its headquarters to Switzerland, the first ever FTSE 100 company bought by a private equity firm. In 2012, Walgreens bought a 45% stake Alliance Boots, with the option to buy the rest within three years. It exercised this option in 2014, and as a result Boots became a subsidiary of the new company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, on 31 December 2014.

The company operates a number of stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland, primarily in high streets and shopping centres. It sells many health and beauty products, and also provides optician and hearing care services within stores and as standalone practices. Boots also operates a retail website and runs a loyalty card programme branded as the Boots Advantage Card.

History

1849 to 2000

An advertisement for Boots from 1911

Boots was established in 1849, by John Boot. After his father's death in 1860, Jesse Boot, aged 10, helped his mother run the family's herbal medicine shop in Nottingham,^[3] which became Boot and Co. Ltd in 1883, then Boots Pure Drug Company Ltd. in 1888. In 1920, Jesse Boot sold the company to the American United Drug Company.^[4] However, because of deteriorating economic circumstances in North America Boots was sold back into British hands in 1933.^[4] The grandson of the founder, John Boot, who inherited the title Baron Trent from his father, headed the company.^[5]

Boots diversified into the research and manufacturing of drugs with its development of the Ibuprofen painkiller during the 1960s, invented by Stewart Adams. The company was awarded the Queen's Award For Technical Achievement for this in 1987. In 1994, Boots divested production to BASF^[6] and in 2006 sold the Nurofen brand to Reckitt Benckiser.^[7] The 2006 sale of Boots Healthcare International included everything made by Crookes Healthcare, based on the Nottingham site.

In 1968 Boots acquired the 622-strong Timothy Whites and Taylors Ltd chain.^[4] Boots expanded into Canada by purchasing the Tamblyn Drugs chain circa 1978. Most Canadian Boots stores were converted to Pharma Plus in 1989, although a handful of locations remained as late as 1993, if not later. In 1982, the company opened a new manufacturing plant in Cramlington, Northumberland.^[4] In the early 1990s, Boots began to diversify and bought Halfords, the bicycle and car parts business in 1991.^[8] It also developed the Children's World business but sold it in 1996 to Mothercare.^[9] Halfords was sold in 2002.^[10]

Boots Opticians Ltd. was formed in 1987 with the acquisition of Clement Clarke Ltd. and Curry and Paxton Ltd. Boots Opticians became the UK's second largest retail optics chain.

Boots diversified into dentistry in 1998, with a number of stores offering this service.^[11] Boots sold its Do-It-All home furnishings chain to Focus in 1998.^[12] Boots also made a venture into "Wellbeing" services offering customers treatments ranging from facials, homoeopathy, and nutritional advice to laser eye surgery and Botox but these services were abandoned in 2003, despite a launch that included a dedicated Freeview and Sky TV channel of the same name, and even redirecting web traffic from boots.com to wellbeing.com^[13]

2000 to present

Boots branch in Yorkshire

Boots branch in Belfast

In late 2004, Boots sold its laser eye surgery business to Optical Express.^[14]

In October 2005, a merger with Alliance UniChem was announced by the then chairman, Sir Nigel Rudd. The CEO Richard Baker left, and the new group became Alliance Boots plc. The merger became effective on 31 July 2006.^[15]

Alliance Boots was purchased by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Stefano Pessina, the deputy chairman of the company, in April 2007 for £11.1 billion, taking the company private and beating a rival bid from Guy Hands' Terra Firma Capital Partners.^[16] This was the first ever instance of a FTSE 100 company having bought by a private equity firm.^[17] In June 2008, the group headquarters were moved to Zug, Switzerland. According to John Ralfe, Boots' former head of corporate finance, "the UK has lost about £100m a year in tax as result".^[18]

Boots UK Limited incorporated Boots Stores Limited and Boots the Chemists Limited. The registered company 'Boots UK Limited' was formerly known as 'Boots the Chemists Limited' from 11 March 1968 to 1 October 2007.^[19]

Management of all staff was moved to Boots Management Services Limited on July 1, 2010.^[20]

On 19 June 2012, it was announced that Walgreens, the United States' largest drug store chain, would purchase a 45% stake in Alliance Boots for US$6.7 billion. The deal was said to be a long term plan to give maximum exposure to both brands, Boots more so in the US and, Walgreens more so in the UK and in China through Boots' presence in that market. The deal gave the option to complete a full merger of the organisations within three years costing an extra $9.5bn.^[21] Walgreens confirmed on 6 August 2014 that it would purchase the remaining 55% and merge with Alliance Boots to form a new holding company, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.^[22] Walgreens and Boots both become subsidiaries of the new company on 31 December 2014.

Products

Boots sells medicines, health and beauty products, and food and drink.

Food and drink

Boots have their own range of food and drink brands:

• Delicious – a luxurious eating range
• Shapers – a healthy eating range
• Nutritious – a range based on nutrient rich ingredients and fibre

The majority of food and drink products are included in the Boots "Meal Deal", which allows the purchase of a main, snack and drink for a fixed price.

The Boots Charitable Trust

The company funds the Boots Charitable Trust, which is an independent registered charity in the UK, administrated by Nottinghamshire Community Foundation. The trust was established in the early 1970s to fund registered charities benefiting people who live in Nottinghamshire.^[23]

D6 building in Beeston

The Boots Estate

The Boots Estate, located near the Nottingham suburb of Beeston, features a range of listed buildings. This includes the two principal factory buildings, D6 and D10, designed by Sir Owen Williams and built in 1932 and 1935–38 respectively. Both are Grade I listed. The former fire station, D34, is also by Williams and is Grade II listed. The headquarters office building known as D90 is Grade II* and was built to designs by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1966–68.^[24] Staff have a restaurant, coffee and snack shops, newsagent, a branch of Boots the Chemist, an opticians branch and cash point situated within landscaped grounds. The grounds include the Millennium Garden which features a herb garden (with some plants that Jesse used in his original herbal remedies) in the shape of a goose foot – harking back to Jesse's original shop on Goose Gate, Nottingham.

The Boots Museum is now closed, however historical items are in storage or on display in the reception area of the D90 building.

See also

• 10:23 Campaign
• Pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom

References

Further reading

• Roberts, Cecil (1966) Achievement: a record of fifty years' progress of Boots Pure Drug Company Ltd. London: Boots Pure Drug Company Ltd

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boots the Chemist.

• Boots corporate website
• Boots retail website
• Learning at Work Case study of Boots Foundation Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management