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{{short description|British multinational pharmacy store chain}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=
{{Infobox company
| name = Boots UK Limited
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| logo_caption = Logo used since 2019
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1849|||df=yes}}
| founder = [[John Boot]]
| former_names =
| Boots the Chemists Limited (1968{{endash}}2007)<ref name="CompaniesHouse">{{Cite web |date=11 March 1968 |title=Boots UK Limited overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00928555 |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=[[Companies House]] |language=en}}</ref>
| location = [[Beeston, Nottinghamshire|Beeston]], [[Nottinghamshire]], England, United Kingdom▼
| Boots Cash Chemists{{Cn|date=February 2024}}
| key_people = [[Sebastian James]], President and Managing Director, Boots UK and ROI (since September 2018)▼
}}
▲| key_people = [[Sebastian James]]
| num_locations = 2,200
| num_locations_year = 2022
| area_served = {{Unbulleted list|[[United Kingdom]]|[[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]|[[Netherlands]]|[[Norway]]|[[Italy]]|[[United Arab Emirates]]|[[Thailand]] |[[Indonesia]] |[[Qatar]]}}
| industry = {{Ubl
| [[Pharmaceutical company|Pharmaceuticals]] | Healthcare | Beauty | Photography }}
| brands = {{Ubl
| [[No. 7 (brand)|No7]]
| Natural Collection
| Soap and Glory
| Soltan
}}
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees =
| 56,000
}}
| parent = [[Walgreens Boots Alliance]]
| subsid = {{ublist
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| footnotes =
}}
'''Boots UK Limited'''
The parent company, The Boots Company plc, merged with [[Alliance Healthcare|Alliance UniChem]] in 2006 to form [[Alliance Boots]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Alliance UniChem Plc and Boots Group PLC merger archive {{!}} Walgreens Boots Alliance|url = http://investor.walgreensbootsalliance.com/mergerArchive.cfm|website = investor.walgreensbootsalliance.com|access-date = 28 December 2015}}</ref> In 2007, Alliance Boots was bought by [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts]] and [[Stefano Pessina]], taking the company private, and moving its headquarters to [[Switzerland]], making it the first-ever [[FTSE 100 Index|FTSE 100]] company to be bought by a [[private equity]] firm.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=Alliance Boots takeover approved|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6708245.stm|access-date=1 August 2014|work=BBC|date=31 May 2007}}</ref> In 2012, [[Walgreens]] bought a 45% stake in 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-walgreen-completes-merger-0101-biz-20141231-story.html|title=Walgreen-Alliance Boots deal is complete|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|last=Jean|first=Ellen Hirst|date=31 December 2014|access-date=9 July 2020}}</ref>
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===1849 to 2000===
[[File:Boots advert.jpg|thumb|An advertisement for Boots from 1911]]
Boots was established in 1849, by [[John Boot]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/business/take-sneak-peek-inside-boots-2549470|title=Inside the Boots archives which reveals the company's incredible history|first=Matthew|last=Bunn|date=17 February 2019|website=nottinghampost}}</ref> After his father's death in 1860, [[Jesse Boot]], aged 10, helped his mother run the family's herbal medicine shop in [[Nottingham]],<ref>Viceira, L. M., & Mitusui, A. M. (2003) Pension Policy at The Boots Company PLC, Harvard Business Review, Havard Business School, 27 August 2003</ref> which was incorporated as Boot and Co. Ltd in 1883, becoming Boots Pure Drug Company Ltd in 1888. In 1920, [[Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent|Jesse Boot]] sold the company to the American [[United Drug Company]].<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.bootslearningstore.com/about/history.php |title=Boots Learning Store |publisher=Boots Learning Store |date=4 December 1999}}</ref> However, because of [[Great Depression in the United States|deteriorating economic circumstances]] in North America Boots was sold back into British hands in 1933.<ref name=history/> The grandson of the founder, [[John Boot, 2nd Baron Trent|John Boot]], who inherited the title [[Baron Trent]] from his father, headed the company.<ref>'Interwar retail internationalization: Boots under American ownership', ''[[The International Review of Retail Distribution and Consumer Research]]'', 7(2), 1997</ref> The Boots Pure Drug Company name was changed to The Boots Company Limited in 1971.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
Between 1898 and 1966, many branches of Boots incorporated a lending library department, known as [[Boots Book-Lovers' Library]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=CatieMux |date=26 January 2019
[[File:Boots UK (logo).svg|thumb|Logo used from the mid-1960s to 2019]]
Boots diversified into the research and manufacturing of [[medication|drugs]] with its development of the [[Ibuprofen]] [[analgesic|painkiller]] during the 1960s, invented by John Nicholson and [[Stewart Adams (chemist)|Stewart Adams]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kindy|first=David|title=The Inventor of Ibuprofen Tested the Drug on His Own Hangover|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/inventor-ibuprofen-tested-drug-his-own-hangover-180975088/|access-date=3 July 2021
In 1968, Boots acquired the 622-strong [[Timothy Whites|Timothy Whites and Taylors Ltd]] chain.<ref name=history/> Boots expanded into Canada by purchasing the [[Tamblyn Drugs]] chain circa 1978. Most Canadian Boots shops were converted to [[Pharma Plus]] in 1989, after sale to [[Oshawa Group]], although a handful of locations remained as late as 1993, if not later.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} Boots products briefly surfaced in Canada when it was sold at the short-lived [[Target Canada|Target]] foray into Canada. In 1982, the company opened a new manufacturing plant in [[Cramlington]], Northumberland.<ref name=history/> In the early 1990s, Boots began to diversify and bought [[Halfords]], the bicycle and car parts business in 1991.<ref>[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article527856.ece And it's all thanks to a passion for a penny-farthing bicycle]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} ''The Times''</ref> The company offered numerous [[private label]] products, e.g., offering the PT400 typewriter, a [[badge engineering|rebadged]] [[Silver Seiko Ltd.#Silver Reed Silverette typewriter|Silverette]] model by [[Silver Seiko Ltd.]] of Japan. It also developed the [[Children's World (retailer)|Children's World]] business of larger out of town superstores in the 1980s, but sold this chain to [[Mothercare]] in 1996.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2758468/Boots-in-childrenswear-pact-to-sell-Adams-range.html Boots in Childrenswear pact to sell Adams range] The Telegraph</ref> Halfords was sold in 2002.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2002/jul/26/5 Boots sells Halfords] ''The Guardian''</ref>
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. In 2009, Boots Opticians acquired [[Dollond & Aitchison]], an optician chain that was founded in 1750.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
Boots diversified into [[dentistry]] in 1998, with a number of shops offering this service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/168340.stm |title=Boots to launch dental clinics |work=BBC News |date=10 September 1998}}</ref> Boots sold the [[Do-It-All]] DIY chain to [[Focus DIY]] in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|author=Gilleo, Ken |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-60770190 |title=Boots decides that for £68m Focus can do-it-all }}</ref> Boots also made a venture into "Wellbeing" services offering customers treatments ranging from [[facial]]s, [[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<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/boots-ditches-wellbeing-strategy-to-return-to-its-roots-as-a-chemist-112739.html|title=Boots ditches Wellbeing strategy to return to its roots as a chemist|work=[[The Independent]]|date=28 March 2003|access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>
===2000 to present===
[[File:Boots, Belfast, May 2013.JPG|thumb|Boots branch in [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]]
In late 2004, Boots sold its laser eye surgery business to [[Optical Express]].<ref>[http://www.opticianonline.net/Articles/2004/10/22/12845/Optical+Express+buys+Boots'+laser+business.htm Optical Express buys Boots laser business] Optician Online</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Boots announces £7bn merger deal |work=BBC News |date=3 October 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4303570.stm |access-date=29 May 2013}}</ref>
[[File:Boots store, Mullingar.png|thumb|Boots branch
[[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]]'s [[Terra Firma Capital Partners]].<ref name="Bloomberg">{{cite news|last1=Craven|first1=Neil|title=KKR Agrees to Buy Alliance Boots, Beating Guy Hands|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a6UHJIzPzX54|access-date=20 June 2014|work=Bloomberg|date=24 April 2007}}</ref> This was the first ever instance of a [[FTSE 100 Index|FTSE 100]] company having been bought by a private equity firm.<ref name="BBC" /> 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".<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|last1=Lawrence|first1=Felicity|title=How Boots' Swiss move cost UK£100m a year|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/11/boots-switzerland-uk|access-date=20 June 2014|work=The Guardian|date=11 December 2010}}</ref>
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Since September 2018, Sebastian James has been a senior vice president of [[Walgreens Boots Alliance]], and president and managing director of Boots.
In November 2020, [[Boots Ireland]] appointed Stephen Watkins as managing director for Ireland, succeeding Bernadette Lavery who has been appointed director of pharmacy with Boots UK.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Slattery|first=Laura|title=Boots Ireland appoints Stephen Watkins as new MD|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/boots-ireland-appoints-stephen-watkins-as-new-md-1.4419325|access-date=
==Products and services==
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*Retail (non-prescription) medicines
*Wide range of health and beauty products including related electrical products (hairdryers, shavers, electric toothbrushes)
*Photography
*Clothing
*Food and drink (branded as Boots Delicious)
*Opticians
*Hearing care
*Mental health
== Stores ==
As of 2023, Walgreens Boots Alliance run 2
* [[United Kingdom]]: 2
* [[Thailand]]: 237
* [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]: 92
The [[Alshaya|Alshaya Group]], a franchise operator based in [[Kuwait]], operates a number of Boots-branded stores throughout the [[Middle East]], including in [[Bahrain]], [[Kuwait]], [[Oman]], [[Qatar]], [[Saudi Arabia]] and the [[United Arab Emirates]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Boots |url=https://www.alshaya.com/en/brands/pharmacy/boots/ |website=Alshaya Group |access-date=30 March 2020}}</ref> while Boots-branded stores throughout [[Indonesia]] are operated by PT Mitra Adiperkasa Tbk.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MAP to Open BOOTS Stores in Indonesia |url=https://www.map.co.id/map-to-open-boots-stores-in-indonesia/ |access-date=
==The Boots Factory Site==
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==Controversies==
{{criticism section|date=March 2024}}
=== No. 7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum ===
Professor Chris Griffiths' [[University of Manchester]] team found the ''Serum'', formerly, ''No. 7<ref name="theguardian/2012/apr/16/history-no7">{{cite news |title=A brief history of Boots No7 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/fashion-blog/2012/apr/16/brief-history-of-no7-boots |access-date=3 September 2022 |work=[[the Guardian]] |date=16 April 2012 |language=en}}</ref> Refine & Rewind Beauty Serum'' stimulated the production of fibrillin-1 and appeared to smooth out wrinkles, (published in the British Journal of Dermatology).<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk/8022644">{{cite news |title='Proof' face creams beat wrinkles |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8022644.stm |access-date=3 September 2022 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=28 April 2009}}</ref><ref name="theguardian/2009/apr/28/boots">{{cite news |last1=Sample |first1=Ian |title=Boots anti-wrinkle cream actually works, say researchers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/apr/28/boots-protect-perfect-anti-wrinkle-cream |access-date=3 September 2022 |work=[[the Guardian]] |date=28 April 2009 |language=en}}</ref> In 2007,
===Sale of homeopathic products===
In 2009, Boots Superintendent Pharmacist Paul Bennett was interviewed by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee about the company's sale of homeopathic medicines. He told the committee that the company had no evidence to suggest that homeopathic medicines are efficacious but Boots sold them anyway, for reasons of "[[consumer choice]]".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/45/09112506.htm|title= Commons Science and Technology Committee Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy |date=25 November 2009}}</ref> The comments attracted
In 2010, protesters staged a mass homeopathy
===Charging the NHS for carrying out unnecessary medicine reviews===
In April 2016, the [[Pharmacists' Defence Association]] stated that company managers were exploiting the NHS by insisting that each outlet carry out [[medicine use review]]s, even if patients
===2016 reports of workplace pressure===
At the same time as the article about medicine reviews, ''[[The Guardian]]'' published a longer report on the same day called 'How Boots went Rogue', which told the story from the eyes of a Boots pharmacist talking about working conditions at the company. It also covered the buyout of the company and the owners' financial approach.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/13/how-boots-went-rogue|title=How Boots went Rogue|work=The Guardian|date=13 April 2016}}</ref> Four days later it published an
There were two further follow-up articles in the days following.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/19/the-guardian-view-on-boots-sick-staff-a-healthcare-business-and-the-public-purse|title=The Guardian view on Boots: sick staff, a healthcare business and the public purse|work=The Guardian|date=19 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/27/bhs-boots-corporations-workers-philip-green-shareholder-power|title=BHS, Boots … our misbehaving corporations need their wings clipped|work=The Guardian|date=27 April 2016}}</ref> ''The Following the ''Guardian'' reports, Boots announced the departure of UK operations director, [[Simon Roberts (businessman)|Simon Roberts]], in June 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/09/boots-uk-boss-simon-roberts-quits|title=Boots UK boss Simon Roberts quits|author=Zoe Wood|work=Guardian newspapers|date=9 June 2016|access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/12/new-boots-boss-offers-chance-to-change|title=New Boots boss offers chance to change|work=Guardian newspapers|date=9 June 2016}}</ref>
===BBC documentary and press coverage in 2018===
On 8 January 2018, the [[BBC]]
A separate article almost three weeks later told the story of a patient who was given the wrong medicine in December 2017 by a "frazzled" pharmacist. The patient said there was clearly a staffing problem.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-42735588|title='Frazzled' Boots pharmacist mixed up patient's pills|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=27 January 2018}}</ref>
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===Supply of the "morning after pill"===
In July 2017, the [[British Pregnancy Advisory Service]] (BPAS) revealed that Boots was selling [[emergency contraception|emergency contraceptive medication]] at four times the [[cost price]] and had refused requests to join rival pharmacy retail chains, including [[Superdrug]] and [[Tesco]], which had agreed to cease profiting financially in this way.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justsaynon.org.uk|work=British Pregnancy Advisory Service website|title=Just Say Non|access-date=21 July 2017}}</ref> In a written response to BPAS, Boots revealed that they were frequently contacted by individuals who disapproved of the dispensing of such medication, which might be viewed as "incentivising inappropriate use",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/boots-emergency-contraception-morning-after-pill-feminism-women-inequality-inappropriate-a7849521.html|work=[[The Independent]]|title=Boots is charging women high rates for the morning after pill because they think we might use it 'inappropriately' if it's cheap|first=Laura|last=Bates|date=20 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40676534|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Boots faces morning-after pill cost row|date=21 July 2017}}</ref> an assertion which campaigners described as "insulting and sexist".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/20/boots-faces-boycott-over-refusal-to-lower-cost-of-morning-after-pill|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Boots faces boycott over refusal to lower cost of morning-after pill|first=Nicola|last=Slawson|date=20 July 2017}}</ref>
BPAS called on the public to boycott the company and email them requesting that they reverse the policy. Following the boycott's launch, lawyers representing Boots alleged that the online complaint form created by BPAS had resulted in a "torrent of abuse" to five of Boots' senior managers and that BPAS had facilitated and tacitly encouraged harassment by naming individual staff members on the form. In response, BPAS stated that Boots had "failed to provide any evidence of abuse sent through the campaign".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41121338|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Boots staff 'harassed' by morning-after pill campaigners|date=1 September 2017}}</ref> In November 2017, more than 130 [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] politicians signed a letter criticising Boots' failure to fulfil its promise to stock a low-cost alternative in its shops by October.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42011279|work=BBC News|title=Boots 'breaking' morning-after pill promise, say Labour MPs|date=16 November 2017}}</ref> At the end of January 2018, Boots confirmed that it was now offering the cheaper medication in all of its pharmacies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42860914|work=BBC News|title=Boots rolls out cheaper morning-after pill across UK|date=29 January 2018}}</ref> Throughout the media coverage, a May–July 2017, pricelist from its wholesaler and sister company [[Alliance Healthcare]] stated that the "Normal Retail Price inc. VAT" of Levonelle One Step was £12.72.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://direct.alliance-healthcare.co.uk/uni2/docs/medicaldirectory_may17.pdf|work=Alliance Healthcare website|title=Product Medical Directory}}</ref>
===Pharmacist suicide===
On 25 October 2017, a debate was held in the [[House of Commons]] about pharmacists' mental health and the support that employers give to employees. Much of the discussion concerned the suicide of a Boots pharmacist, Alison Stamps, in May 2015, and Boots' response was criticised. Part of a letter from Alison
===Overcharging the NHS for products===
In February 2018, Boots was criticised for charging excessive prices for low-value products supplied to the [[NHS]]: in one case, it was found that the pharmacy was billing in excess of £1,500 for a moisturiser which normally retailed at less than £2.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/nhs-forced-to-pay-1-500-for-2-pot-of-moisturiser-3d0ckn3gh|work=The Times|title=NHS forced to pay £1,500 for £2 pot of moisturiser|first=Paul|last=Morgan-Bentley|date=2 February 2018}}{{subscription required}}</ref> In May 2018, a further investigation by ''[[The Times]]'' found that on at least five occasions between 2013 and 2017, Boots had charged over £3,200 for a medicinal mouthwash used to treat [[mouth ulcer]]s in [[chemotherapy]] patients, in comparison to an independent supplier which had charged the equivalent of £93 for the same product. The investigation found that Boots had ordered the product from Alliance Healthcare, a supplier owned by Boots' parent company. In response, a spokesman for Walgreens Boots Alliance rejected accusations of overcharging the NHS and
==See also==
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[[Category:British subsidiaries of foreign companies]]
[[Category:Walgreens Boots Alliance]]
[[Category:Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies]]
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