Boots UK
Encyclopedia
Boots UK Limited is a leading pharmacy
chain in the United Kingdom, with outlets in most high street
s throughout the country. The company has been a subsidiary of Alliance Boots
since 31 July 2006 after Boots Group plc merged with Alliance UniChem plc and combines the former Boots the Chemist Ltd and Boots Stores Ltd.
. After his father's death in 1860, Jesse Boot, aged 10 helped his mother run the family's herbal medicine shop in Nottingham, England. In 1920, Jesse Boot
sold the company to the American United Drug Company. However, deteriorating economic circumstances in North America saw Boots sold back into British hands in 1933 with the grandson of the founder, John Boot
, who inherited the title Baron Trent
from his father, at the head of the Company. In 1968 it acquired the 622-strong Timothy Whites and Taylors Ltd
chain.
In 1982, the company opened a new manufacturing plant in Cramlington
, Northumberland
.
In 1991, Boots began to diversify and bought Halfords
, the bicycle
and car parts business. The company later sold Halfords in 2002.
In the early 1990s, the Company also developed the Children's World business but sold it in 1996 to Mothercare
.
Boots branched into dentistry
in 1998, with a number of stores offering this service.
Boots sold its Do-It-All
home furnishings chain to Focus in 1998.
s, homeopathy
, and nutrition
al advice to laser eye surgery and Botox but these services were abandoned in 2003.
In late 2004, Boots sold the Laser eye surgery services to Optical Express
.
Boots has also diversified into the research and manufacturing of drugs
. It developed Ibuprofen
, a painkiller
and in 1994 divested production to BASF
, and in 2006 sold the Nurofen
brand to Reckitt Benckiser
.
Boots considered selling sex toy
s in 2005 but subsequently cancelled this plan.
On 1 October 2005, rumours began to circulate that Boots and Alliance UniChem were planning a merger, although there had been no official announcement. This was formally announced on 3 October by the Chairman of the Boots Group, Sir Nigel Rudd. On 3 October 2005, the merger was confirmed, and the new group took on the name Alliance Boots
plc. The merger became effective on 31 July 2006. The new group was subsequently bought by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Stefano Pessina, the deputy chairman of Alliance Boots, taking the company private.
, features a range of listed buildings, notably D6 and D10 which are both Grade I, and D31, D36, and D90 which are Grade II. Staff enjoy a staff restaurant
, coffee and snack shops, newsagent
, a branch of Boots The Chemist, an Opticians branch and cash point situated within beautifully landscaped grounds.
The landscaped grounds include the Millennium Garden which features a herb garden (with some plants that Jesse used in his original herbal remedies) in the shape of a goose
foot - harking back to Jesse's original shop on Goosegate in Nottingham United Kingdom.
The Boots Museum is now closed (due to cost cutting) and historical items are in storage.
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
chain in the United Kingdom, with outlets in most high street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
s throughout the country. The company has been a subsidiary of Alliance Boots
Alliance Boots
Alliance Boots GmbH is a leading international, pharmacy-led health and beauty group. It has two core business activities - pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing, and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution - and has a presence in more than 25 countries...
since 31 July 2006 after Boots Group plc merged with Alliance UniChem plc and combines the former Boots the Chemist Ltd and Boots Stores Ltd.
19th and 20th centuries
Boots was established in 1849, by John BootJohn Boot
John Boot , born in Radcliffe on Trent in Nottinghamshire, England, was the father of the founder of Boots the Chemists. Jesse Boot turned the company into a retailer known throughout the world....
. After his father's death in 1860, Jesse Boot, aged 10 helped his mother run the family's herbal medicine shop in Nottingham, England. In 1920, Jesse Boot
Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent
Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent transformed The Boots Company, founded by his father, John Boot, into a national retailer, which branded itself as "Chemists to the Nation", before he sold out his controlling interest to American investors in 1920.John Boot offered his best friend, John Harston, the...
sold the company to the American United Drug Company. However, deteriorating economic circumstances in North America saw Boots sold back into British hands in 1933 with the grandson of the founder, John Boot
John Boot, 2nd Baron Trent
John Campbell Boot, 2nd Baron Trent KBE was the son of the Jesse Boot who turned the Boots Company, founded by his father John Boot, into a major national company. He was educated at The Leys School and Jesus College, Cambridge and served in the First World War...
, who inherited the title Baron Trent
Baron Trent
Baron Trent, of Nottingham in the County of Nottingham, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 18 March 1929 for the a businessman and philanthropist Sir Jesse Boot, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Nottingham in the County of Nottingham, in the...
from his father, at the head of the Company. In 1968 it acquired the 622-strong Timothy Whites and Taylors Ltd
Timothy Whites
Timothy Whites was a British chain of dispensing chemist and houseware stores.The origin of Timothy Whites was a ships' chandler and general store in Portsmouth, started in 1848 by Timothy White. White himself qualified as a pharmacist in 1869. By 1890 White's was one of four British pharmacists...
chain.
In 1982, the company opened a new manufacturing plant in Cramlington
Cramlington
Cramlington is a town and civil parish in the county of Northumberland, North East England, situated north of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town's name suggests a probable founding by the Danes or an Anglo-Saxon origin, the word "ton" meaning town. The population was estimated as 39,000 in...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
.
In 1991, Boots began to diversify and bought Halfords
Halfords
Halfords Group plc is a leading retailer of car parts, car enhancements and bicycles operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Czech Republic and more recently in Poland, although it is currently pulling out of the latter two countries...
, the bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
and car parts business. The company later sold Halfords in 2002.
In the early 1990s, the Company also developed the Children's World business but sold it in 1996 to Mothercare
Mothercare
Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to 8 years old. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
.
Boots branched into dentistry
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
in 1998, with a number of stores offering this service.
Boots sold its Do-It-All
Focus (DIY)
Focus DIY was a privately owned chain of DIY stores in the UK. It served the consumer DIY market sector, and most stores had some form of garden centre....
home furnishings chain to Focus in 1998.
21st century
Boots also made a venture into "Wellbeing" services offering customers treatments ranging from facialFacial
A facial is a procedure involving a variety of skin treatments, including: steam, exfoliation, extraction, creams, lotions, facial masks, peels, and massage...
s, homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
, and nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
al advice to laser eye surgery and Botox but these services were abandoned in 2003.
In late 2004, Boots sold the Laser eye surgery services to Optical Express
Optical Express
Optical Express is a retail optical services company in the United Kingdom. Optical Express is part of the Optical Express Group, which operates in the optical, dental and cosmetic industries. It is the forth largest high street retail optician in the UK, which, combined, account for 55% of the...
.
Boots has also diversified into the research and manufacturing of drugs
Medication
A pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...
. It developed Ibuprofen
Ibuprofen
Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for relief of symptoms of arthritis, fever, as an analgesic , especially where there is an inflammatory component, and dysmenorrhea....
, a painkiller
Analgesic
An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....
and in 1994 divested production to BASF
BASF
BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...
, and in 2006 sold the Nurofen
Nurofen
Nurofen is the brand name of a range of pain-relief medication made by Reckitt Benckiser. Introduced in 1983, the Nurofen brand was acquired following Reckitt Benckiser's acquisition of Boots Healthcare in 2005...
brand to Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser plc is a global consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of household products and a major producer of consumer healthcare and personal products...
.
Boots considered selling sex toy
Sex toy
A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure. The most popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals and may be vibrating or non-vibrating...
s in 2005 but subsequently cancelled this plan.
On 1 October 2005, rumours began to circulate that Boots and Alliance UniChem were planning a merger, although there had been no official announcement. This was formally announced on 3 October by the Chairman of the Boots Group, Sir Nigel Rudd. On 3 October 2005, the merger was confirmed, and the new group took on the name Alliance Boots
Alliance Boots
Alliance Boots GmbH is a leading international, pharmacy-led health and beauty group. It has two core business activities - pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing, and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution - and has a presence in more than 25 countries...
plc. The merger became effective on 31 July 2006. The new group was subsequently bought by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Stefano Pessina, the deputy chairman of Alliance Boots, taking the company private.
The Boots Estate
The Boots Estate, located near the Nottingham suburb of BeestonBeeston, Nottinghamshire
Beeston is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is southwest of Nottingham city centre. Although typically regarded as a suburb of the City of Nottingham, and officially designated as part of the Nottingham Urban Area, for local government purposes it is in the borough of Broxtowe, lying outside...
, features a range of listed buildings, notably D6 and D10 which are both Grade I, and D31, D36, and D90 which are Grade II. Staff enjoy a staff restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
, coffee and snack shops, newsagent
Newsagent
A newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...
, a branch of Boots The Chemist, an Opticians branch and cash point situated within beautifully landscaped grounds.
The landscaped grounds include the Millennium Garden which features a herb garden (with some plants that Jesse used in his original herbal remedies) in the shape of a goose
Goose
The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
foot - harking back to Jesse's original shop on Goosegate in Nottingham United Kingdom.
The Boots Museum is now closed (due to cost cutting) and historical items are in storage.