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Coronavirus - A message from Seb James, Managing Director, Boots UK and ROI

17 March 2020
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Hello  

For 171 years, Boots has been at the heart of community care, providing support, advice and healthcare to communities across the U.K. Never has this been truer than today, as our colleagues work tirelessly to support you and your families whilst the COVID-19 situation is ongoing.

We are doing everything we can to help our customers and our team to stay healthy and safe; whether that’s through the products we sell, the experience in our stores, or the support we provide to our employees.

Our colleagues have been working hard to make sure we have the right products available, and enough of them for everyone. You might have noticed that we’ve set a limit on the number of certain items you can buy. Thank you for supporting us and appreciating these limits as we try to help as many people as possible. For example, we’re experiencing exceptional demand for hand sanitiser in particular, but please be assured that we continue to have stock in the supply chain, which we are sending to stores each day. The same is true of other high demand products including children’s medicine, pain relief and hygiene products.

We are working closely with the NHS and Public Health England to ensure that we are aligned on guidance, and we continue to reassess everything we do on a daily basis. Our priority is supplying our patients with the prescriptions, advice and medicines that they need. We’re making plans to ensure that every community has access to a pharmacy, and our NHS online repeat prescription service* will deliver your prescriptions free to your door.

When it comes to our team, we’re keeping all colleagues updated with advice and information on how to stay safe, whether that’s at work or at home. Our teams in store have access to hand washing facilities and sanitiser, and we’re making sure that our stores, pharmacies, Boots Opticians and Boots Hearingcare facilities are clean and hygienic.

Whilst our amazing No7, Liz Earle and Boots Beauty Advisors will continue to provide the advice and information you need in store, as a precaution, we have taken the decision to temporarily stop make up consultations which require physical contact.

We understand staying safe and having the right advice is important to you so we will be updating our website and social channels with advice and tips over the coming weeks, so please do check back.

Here's some advice from our Chief Pharmacist, Marc Donovan:

Thank you for choosing Boots, your continued trust and loyalty means a lot to us.

Seb

Seb James
Managing Director, Boots UK and ROI

 

 

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Boots is the UK’s leading health and beauty retailer with over 52,000 team members and 2,100 stores, ranging from local community pharmacies to large destination health and beauty stores.*

Boots serves its customers and patients for life as the leading provider of healthcare on the high street and the UK’s number one beauty destination. It offers an unrivalled depth and breadth of products, which incorporates its extensive own brand range and innovative portfolio of brands, including No7, the UK’s No1 skincare brand, Soap & Glory, Liz Earle Beauty and Sleek MakeUP.

2024 marks Boots’ 175th anniversary year. Founder John Boot opened a herbalist store in Nottingham in 1849 to offer an affordable alternative to traditional medicines. His son Jesse expanded the business to become a modern retailer and the biggest chemist in Britain. Throughout its history, Boots has listened, learned and innovated, and it continues to challenge itself to improve its products and services every day.

Boots is part of Walgreens Boots Alliance, which is a global leader in pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing retail.  More company information is available on boots-uk.com.

*Figures accurate as of 30 November 2023