Business is booming at Boots as its boss completes a swathe of store closures before he leaves.
The pharmacy giant said sales in the three months to the end of August were 6.2 per cent higher than in the same period a year earlier as premium beauty and skincare products flew off the shelves.
Seb James, who stands down as managing director of Boots in the UK and Ireland next month, hailed ‘a strong set of results’.
Sales boost: Seb James (pictured), who stands down as managing director of Boots in the UK and Ireland next month, hailed ‘a strong set of results’
It came as his plan to close 300 stores draws to an end, with the final ten to shut their doors for the last time this month. That will leave Boots with 1,900 stores.
Parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) is taking even more drastic action on the other side of the Atlantic, yesterday announcing plans to shut 1,200 stores in the US over the next three years.
WBA shares jumped more than 10 per cent in New York having been languishing near 30-year lows.
James struck an upbeat tone for the UK, where new brands such as Floral Street and Prada Beauty have helped buoy sales.
‘I’m delighted to close the year with such a strong set of results,’ James, 58, said, adding that the group was ‘laser-focused’ on getting ready for its critical golden quarter ahead of Christmas.
Online sales in particular did well, rising 18.7 per cent compared to the year before, with a Boots App having 7.5m active users and achieving record sales.
‘We have delivered a 14th consecutive quarter of market share growth and are seeing positive momentum across the whole business,’ James said.
An Old Etonian and contemporary of Boris Johnson and David Cameron in Oxford University’s Bullingdon Club, he is leaving after six years to run Veonet, a European eye clinic network.
He has been praised for spearheading a revival of Boots’ beauty section. Yesterday the firm said it had launched 55 beauty brands this year including Korean skincare group Laneige.
Anthony Hemmerdinger, a former Saturday boy at the group, will replace James next month.
He worked at Boots in Manchester as a teenager and has also worked for pub firm Greene King and supermarket group Sainsbury’s.
WBA, which has owned the High Street chemist since 2014, has decided against a sale or stock market flotation of the business.
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