Boots appoints former shop worker to take charge as US owner mulls sale of pharmaceutical giant

Boots has appointed a former Saturday boy to take the helm.

Anthony Hemmerdinger will replace CEO Sebastian James in November as the US owner considers selling the pharmaceutical giant.

James, a former Eton pupil and contemporary of Boris Johnson and David

Cameron, of Oxford University’s Bullingdon Club, is leaving after six years to run Veonet, a European network of eye clinics.

Hemmerdinger said: ‘Boots is a fantastic company that occupies a unique position at the heart of the UK health and beauty sector.

“I am very proud of everything we have achieved in recent years.”

He worked at Boots in Manchester as a teenager and has also worked for the Greene King pub and Sainsbury’s.

After six years at Asda, he returned to Boots as retail director in 2022.

Since then, he has overseen an estate of around 1,900 stores in the UK and Ireland.

The company praised him yesterday for leading the revamp of its beauty department.