Boots expected to axe 1,000 more jobs
High street chemist Boots is expected to announce plans to cut 1,000 jobs next week as part of a shake-up by its new chief executive, it emerged today.
The jobs are expected to go at the group’s head office in Nottingham which currently employs 3,000 staff.
The latest cuts come after the group announced it was axing 500 head office staff in June, as well as cutting 700 jobs when its failed Wellbeing beauty treatments arm was closed, and 1,000 when it shut a factory in Airdrie in Lanarkshire.
The move is part of its “Getting in Shape” programme, through which the group hopes to achieve £100m (€144m) of cost savings by the 2005/2006 financial year.
Chief executive Richard Baker, who joined the group from Asda in September, is expected to announce the latest round of job cuts when he updates the City on Christmas trading on Friday.
Boots, which declined to comment on the speculation, is understood to be talking to staff this weeks about the cuts.
It said in a statement: “At the start of the financial year we announced that under our Getting in Shape initiative, we embarked on an efficiency programme aimed at making savings of £100m (€144m) over three years.
“That process has already started and we have been open with our people that there would be more changes this financial year over and above those already under way.
“We will not respond to speculation on what may or may not be involved in these changes, as decisions have not been finalised. When we have something to say we will talk to our people first.”
In the run-up to Christmas head office managers had £3m (€4.3m) cut from their budget to be re-invested in the group’s 1,400 stores in a bid to tempt more customers inside.
On Friday Mr Baker is also expected to announce the next stage of the Boots “Lower Prices You’ll Love” campaign in which it invested £40m (€57.6m) in shifting away from promotional and special deals to focus on offering permanently reduced prices.
Mr Baker, who was appointed to make Boots “more modern, more effective and more competitive”, may announce other modernisation plans including revamping the group’s stores and having more of them open on Sundays.
Fund manager Gerrard expects the group to announce 3% sales growth for the Christmas period, after it increased the space devoted to its festive products by 10% and began selling them earlier than usual.
Last week supermarket group Tesco announced it was investing £70m (€101m) in price cuts on health and beauty products in a move that was seen as a direct attack on Boots.
