Business booming at Boots! Outgoing boss praises good results amid store closures

Business is booming at Boots as their boss completes a series of store closures before leaving.

The pharmaceutical giant said sales in the three months to the end of August were 6.2 percent higher than the same period a year earlier, as premium beauty and skincare products disappeared from shelves. shelves.

Seb James, who will step down as CEO of Boots UK and Ireland next month, hailed “a strong set of results”.

It came as its plan to close 300 stores comes to an end, with the final ten closing their doors for the final time this month. That will leave Boots with 1,900 stores.

Parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) is taking even more drastic measures across the Atlantic, yesterday announcing plans to close 1,200 stores in the United States over the next three years.

WBA shares rose more than 10 percent in New York after languishing near 30-year lows.

James struck an optimistic tone for the UK, where new brands such as Floral Street and Prada Beauty have helped boost sales.

“I’m delighted to close the year with such strong results,” said James, 58, adding that the group was “focused” on preparing for its critical golden quarter before Christmas.

Online sales in particular performed well, increasing 18.7 per cent compared to the previous year, and the Boots app had 7.5 million active users and achieved record sales.

“We have achieved a 14th consecutive quarter of market share growth and are seeing positive momentum across the business,” James said.

A former Etonian and contemporary of Boris Johnson and David Cameron at Oxford University’s Bullingdon Club, he leaves after six years to run Veonet, a European network of eye clinics.

He has been praised for spearheading the revival of Boots’ beauty section. Yesterday, the firm said it had launched 55 beauty brands this year, including Korean skincare group Laneige.

Anthony Hemmerdinger, a former Saturday Boy of the group, will replace James next month.

He worked at Boots in Manchester as a teenager and also worked for pub company Greene King and supermarket group Sainsbury’s.

WBA, which has owned the High Street pharmacy since 2014, has decided not to sell or take the company public.