08/06/2015

Boots To Cut 700 Non-Store Jobs

Boots has announced it is to cut around 700 non-store based roles.

The news is part of a plan by the company to "address the rapidly changing needs of its customers and patients and continue the transformation of its businesses".

In a statement, the firm added that this will help to create a platform to help the business to grow over the coming years and further for "continued long-term sustainable returns".

It is understood the company will evolve its existing models across a number of key areas to simplify how its resources are used. The areas of focus include reinventing customer offer, focused customer engagement, investing in technology and simplifying support operations.

By simplifying the structure of support functions, Boots has said it will be reducing its non-store based roles by around 700. This is expected to be achieved through a combination of natural attrition, redeployment, retraining and redundancy. However, the company added that further resources will be needed in certain areas, such as digital and the delivery of the new customer offer.

Simon Roberts, President of Boots, said: "While we have continued to deliver a solid performance in recent years, despite challenging market conditions, we cannot be complacent and must be stronger and more agile going forward, to meet the fast changing expectations of our customers.

"Together with my leadership team, I believe this plan will make Boots even better for our customers and drive sustainable future growth. We also remain fully committed to our presence in Nottingham, which has been the home of Boots since the very beginning.

"We have not taken these decisions lightly, and understand the impact that today's announcement may have on our colleagues. We are fully committed to doing everything we can to support all our people as we transform Boots and strive to be even better for our customers and patients."

(JP)

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