Boots to close 200 stores following slump in sales

The parent company of Boots has today announced the closure of 200 stores as the pharmaceutical company sees a fall in sales.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) revealed a 7.3 per cent fall in profits in 2019 which has prompted the closure of eight per cent of its stores.

Shops to close have not yet been identified but with stores on Stodman Street, Northgate retail park and Market Street in Bingham, Newark could be hit by the company closures.

Managing director of Boots, Sebastian James, said despite the large closures of stores the company continues to be "very successful" and open new shops elsewhere across the country.

James said: "WBA has now approved an outline plan to consolidate around 200, principally local pharmacy, stores where we have a large number within close proximity. We believe this is the right thing to do as it means that we can invest more in staffing those stores while not reducing our 90 per cent coverage within a 10-minute drive of a Boots.

"We do not anticipate a significant effect from this activity to colleagues as we will redeploy the overwhelming majority to neighbouring stores. At the same time, we continue to open new stores where we believe there are communities that would benefit from a new Boots - for example the new Covent Garden flagship (creating 130 new jobs) which opened yesterday.”

It comes after an announcement earlier this year where Boots revealed they would scrap more than 350 jobs at Nottingham's head office as part of restructuring plans.

But Boots boss James believes new plans will transform the experience of customers with a focus on making stores and online more personalised, adding: "We’re working very hard through these plans and I’m excited about what this means for the future of Boots.

"We have the number one health and beauty website, the most popular UK loyalty scheme and the most trusted pharmacy, second only to the NHS. And we have amazing and compassionate colleagues who work hard every day. What we’re doing today is about ensuring our future success."

Around 200 stores will be affected before 2021 and will be announced in the coming months.