Boots (company)
As of December 2024, Boots has 2,000 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland ranging from local pharmacies to large health and beauty shops.[11] Boots diversified into the research and manufacturing of drugs with its development of the Ibuprofen painkiller during the 1960s, invented by John Nicholson and Stewart Adams.[13] The withdrawal from market of Manoplax due to safety concerns in 1993, caused major pressure from investors, and in 1994, Boots divested its prescription drugs division, which had become no longer viable, to BASF.[21] Boots also made a venture into "Wellbeing" services offering customers treatments ranging from facials, homoeopathy, and nutritional advice to laser eye surgery and Botox but these services were abandoned in 2003, despite a launch that included a dedicated Freeview and Sky TV channel of the same name, and even redirecting web traffic from boots.com to wellbeing.com[22] In late 2004, Boots sold its laser eye surgery business to Optical Express.[28] In June 2012, it was announced that Walgreens, the United States' largest chemist chain, would purchase a 45% stake in Alliance Boots for US$6.7 billion.7[49] Refine & Rewind Beauty Serum stimulated the production of fibrillin-1 and appeared to smooth out wrinkles, (published in the British Journal of Dermatology).[51][58] In 2009, Boots Superintendent Pharmacist Paul Bennett was interviewed by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee about the company's sale of homeopathic medicines.He told the committee that the company had no evidence to suggest that homeopathic medicines are efficacious but Boots sold them anyway, for reasons of "consumer choice".[62][63] In April 2016, the Pharmacists' Defence Association stated that company managers were exploiting the NHS by insisting that each outlet carry out medicine use reviews, even if patients did not need them.[66] Four days later it published an article with emails from some pharmacists who had written about how "the chain allegedly compels staff to compromise ethics for targets".[68][69] The Guardian subsequently noted a letter purporting to be from an "independent pharmacist" criticising its stance on the issue which it identified as having been edited and amended by one of the firm's vice-presidents.One of the whistleblowers, who had formerly worked in a patient safety role, stated that Boots had calculated that in excess of £100m additional investment in staffing was required each year in its pharmacies and to meet the company's expectations of its staff.[78][79] In July 2017, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) revealed that Boots was selling emergency contraceptive medication at four times the cost price and had refused requests to join rival pharmacy retail chains, including Superdrug and Tesco, which had agreed to cease profiting financially in this way.[80] In a written response to BPAS, Boots revealed that they were frequently contacted by individuals who disapproved of the dispensing of such medication, which might be viewed as "incentivising inappropriate use",[81][82] an assertion which campaigners described as "insulting and sexist".[84] In November 2017, more than 130 Labour politicians signed a letter criticising Boots' failure to fulfil its promise to stock a low-cost alternative in its shops by October.[86] Throughout the media coverage, a May–July 2017, pricelist from its wholesaler and sister company Alliance Healthcare stated that the "Normal Retail Price inc. VAT" of Levonelle One Step was £12.72.In response, a spokesman for Walgreens Boots Alliance rejected accusations of overcharging the NHS and said that the bespoke nature of the orders, often requested at short notice, results in the high cost.
SubsidiaryPharmaceuticalsJohn BootBeeston, NottinghamshireUnited KingdomIrelandNetherlandsNorwayUnited Arab EmiratesThailandIndonesiapresidentParentWalgreens Boots AllianceSubsidiariesBoots OpticiansBoots IrelandpharmacyAlliance UniChemAlliance BootsKohlberg Kravis RobertsStefano PessinaSwitzerlandFTSE 100private equityWalgreenshigh streetsopticianhearing careloyalty card programmeJesse BootNottinghamUnited Drug Companydeteriorating economic circumstancesBaron TrentBoots Book-Lovers' LibraryIbuprofenpainkillerStewart AdamsQueen's Award For Technical AchievementManoplaxNurofenReckitt BenckiserCrookes HealthcareTimothy Whites and Taylors LtdTamblyn DrugsPharma PlusOshawa GroupTargetCramlingtonHalfordsprivate labelrebadgedSilver Seiko Ltd.Children's WorldMothercareDollond & AitchisondentistryFocus DIYfacialshomoeopathyBelfastNorthern IrelandOptical ExpressNigel RuddMullingarGuy HandsTerra Firma Capital PartnersZug, SwitzerlandEnglandScotlandRepublic of Ireland2019 FIFA Women's World CupUEFA Women's Euro 2021Pondok Indah MallJakartaSycamore PartnersPrescription medicinesphotographic processingAlshaya GroupKuwaitMiddle EastBahrainSaudi ArabiaBoots Factory SiteBeestonlisted buildingsOwen WilliamsSkidmore, Owings & Merrillherb gardenGoose Gate, NottinghamUniversity of ManchesterHorizonconsumer choicePharmacists' Defence Associationmedicine use reviewsThe GuardianGeneral Pharmaceutical CouncilSimon RobertsBritish Pregnancy Advisory Serviceemergency contraceptive medicationcost priceSuperdrugLabourAlliance HealthcareHouse of CommonsKevan JonesThe Timesmouth ulcerschemotherapyPharmaceutical industry in the United KingdomCompanies HouseChicago TribuneThe International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer ResearchThe IndependentHistoric EnglandNational Heritage List for EnglandBBC NewsEvening StandardGood Housekeepingtelegraph.co.ukHarper's BAZAARIrish Examiner20th Century Press ArchivesDrugstore.comDuane Reade