Despite recording third quarter growth of 13 per cent, Boots has announced plans to close 300 of its roughly 2,200 UK outlets.

The health and beauty retailer, which is owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), said that while it would continue its previously announced investment into rejuvenation of its store estate, it would continue to consolidate a number of stores in close proximity to each other over the next year.

WBA added that evolving the store estate in this way would enable Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed and focus investment more acutely in individual stores.

According to the Guardian, the planned store closures will affect thousands of jobs, but Boots said it does not foresee redundancies and will offer all staff redeployment to nearby shops.

The consolidation plans may have been partly driven by strong digital sales which jumped by more than 25 per cent year-on-year.

Reports emerged earlier this year that WBA was mulling selling or floating Boots by the end of 2023, with reports that investors and board members said that alongside other operations in Europe, Boots was a “distraction” for the company.

The news marked the second time WBA would try to offload the company after putting it up for sale at around $7 billion in 2022.

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