Retailer counters redundancies speculation
Beauty and healthcare market leader Boots said it will use part of the£1.93 billion windfall from the sale of Boots Healthcare International to restructure costs. However, it denied that any decision to axe distribution centre jobs has been made.

Press reports today suggested that Boots could announce mass redundancies at many of its 14 distribution depots if its proposed merger with Alliance UniChem goes ahead.

However, a Boots spokesman said that, although structural costs and rationalisation of the supply chain are under review, no decisions have been made about job losses and the review is ongoing.

He added that the retailer would use the money from the BHI sale to invest in some of its older stores, to bring them up to date. The retailer will also consider ways to make its operations more efficient.

Boots completed the sale of BHI to Reckitt Benckiser yesterday for£1.93 billion and is in the process of merging with Alliance UniChem, subject to approvals.

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