company industry pharmaceuticals healthcare beauty photography founded 1849 ; 167 years ago 1849 nottingham united kingdom founder john boot headquarters nottingham united kingdom area served united kingdom republic of ireland key people elizabeth fagan managing director boots uk and ireland from july 2016 brands no. 7 and seventeen makeup soltan sun cream almus generic drugs number of employees 70 000 uk 1 900 ireland parent walgreens boots alliance subsidiaries boots opticians website boots uk.com boots uk limited 1 formerly boots the chemists limited trading as boots is a pharmacy chain in the united kingdom and ireland with outlets in most high streets shopping centres and airport terminals . the company s former parent 2 the boots company plc merged with alliance unichem in 2006 to form alliance boots . 3 in 2007 alliance boots was bought by kohlberg kravis roberts and stefano pessina taking the company private and moving its headquarters to switzerland the first ever ftse 100 company bought by a private equity firm . in 2012 walgreens bought a 45 % stake alliance boots with the option to buy the rest within three years . it exercised this option in 2014 and as a result boots became a subsidiary of the new company walgreens boots alliance on 31 december 2014 . the company operates a number of stores across the united kingdom and ireland primarily in high streets and shopping centres . it sells many health and beauty products and also provides optician and hearing care services within stores and as standalone practices . boots also operates a retail website and runs a loyalty card programme branded as the boots advantage card . contents 1 history 1.1 1849 to 2000 1.2 2000 to present 2 products 3 the boots charitable trust 4 the boots estate 5 see also 6 references 7 further reading 8 external links history edit 1849 to 2000 edit an advertisement for boots from 1911 boots was established in 1849 by john boot . after his father s death in 1860 jesse boot aged 10 helped his mother run the family s herbal medicine shop in nottingham 4 which was incorporated as boot and co. ltd. in 1883 becoming boots pure drug company ltd. in 1888 . in 1920 jesse boot sold the company to the american united drug company . 5 however because of deteriorating economic circumstances in north america boots was sold back into british hands in 1933 . 5 the grandson of the founder john boot who inherited the title baron trent from his father headed the company . 6 the boots pure drug company name was changed to the boots company limited in 1971 . boots diversified into the research and manufacturing of drugs with its development of the ibuprofen painkiller during the 1960s invented by stewart adams . the company was awarded the queen s award for technical achievement for this in 1987 . a major research focus of boots in the 1980s was the drug for congestive heart failure manoplax . 7 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 . 8 9 in 2006 it sold the nurofen brand to reckitt benckiser . 10 the 2006 sale of boots healthcare international included everything made by crookes healthcare based on the nottingham site . in 1968 boots acquired the 622 strong timothy whites and taylors ltd chain . 5 boots expanded into canada by purchasing the tamblyn drugs chain circa 1978 . most canadian boots stores were converted to pharma plus in 1989 although a handful of locations remained as late as 1993 if not later . citation needed in 1982 the company opened a new manufacturing plant in cramlington northumberland . 5 in the early 1990s boots began to diversify and bought halfords the bicycle and car parts business in 1991 . 11 it also developed the children s world business but sold it in 1996 to mothercare . 12 halfords was sold in 2002 . 13 boots opticians ltd. was formed in 1987 with the acquisition of clement clarke ltd. and curry and paxton ltd. boots opticians became the uk s second largest retail optics chain . boots diversified into dentistry in 1998 with a number of stores offering this service . 14 boots sold its do it all home furnishings chain to focus in 1998 . 15 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 16 2000 to present edit boots branch in yorkshire boots branch in belfast in late 2004 boots sold its laser eye surgery business to optical express . 17 in october 2005 a merger with alliance unichem was announced by the then chairman sir nigel rudd . the ceo richard baker left and the new group became alliance boots plc. the merger became effective on 31 july 2006 . 18 alliance boots was purchased by kohlberg kravis roberts and stefano pessina the deputy chairman of the company in april 2007 for 11.1 billion taking the company private and beating a rival bid from guy hands terra firma capital partners . 19 this was the first ever instance of a ftse 100 company having bought by a private equity firm . 20 in june 2008 the group headquarters were moved to zug switzerland . according to john ralfe boots former head of corporate finance the uk has lost about 100m a year in tax as result . 21 boots the chemists limited was re registered under the name boots uk limited on 1 october 2007 . 22 management of all staff was moved to boots management services limited on july 1 2010 . 23 on 19 june 2012 it was announced that walgreens the united states largest drug store chain would purchase a 45 % stake in alliance boots for us 6.7 billion . the deal was said to be a long term plan to give maximum exposure to both brands boots more so in the us and walgreens more so in the uk and in china through boots presence in that market . the deal gave the option to complete a full merger of the organisations within three years costing an extra 9.5 bn . 24 walgreens confirmed on 6 august 2014 that it would purchase the remaining 55 % and merge with alliance boots to form a new holding company walgreens boots alliance inc. 25 walgreens and boots both become subsidiaries of the new company on 31 december 2014 . 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 didn t need them . the nhs pays 28 per review up to a maximum of 400 per store . 26 the guardian stated that the general pharmaceutical council was poised to investigate . 27 the paper subsequently noted a letter purporting to be from an independent pharmacist criticising its stance on the issue which it identified as coming from one of the firm s vice presidents . 28 following the guardian reports boots announced the departure of uk operations director simon roberts in june 2016 . 29 products edit boots sells medicines health and beauty products . it has a food and drink range in the form of lunchtime meal deals . 30 the boots charitable trust edit the company funds the boots charitable trust which is an independent registered charity in the uk administrated by nottinghamshire community foundation . the trust was established in the early 1970s to fund registered charities benefiting people who live in nottinghamshire . 31 d6 building in beeston the boots estate edit the boots estate located near the nottingham suburb of beeston features a range of listed buildings . this includes the two principal factory buildings d6 and d10 designed by sir owen williams and built in 1932 and 1935 38 respectively . both are grade i listed . the former fire station d34 is also by williams and is grade ii listed . the headquarters office building known as d90 is grade ii and was built to designs by skidmore owings & merrill in 1966 68 . 32 staff have a restaurant coffee and snack shops newsagent a branch of boots the chemist an opticians branch and cash point situated within landscaped grounds . the grounds include the millennium garden which features a herb garden with some plants that jesse used in his original herbal remedies in the shape of a goose foot harking back to jesse s original shop on goose gate nottingham . the boots museum is now closed ; however historical items are in storage or on display in the reception area of the d90 building . see also edit 10 23 campaign pharmaceutical industry in the united kingdom references edit boots uk limited . boots uk . retrieved 20 march 2010 . memorandum and articles of association reprint with all current amendments as at 26 july 2001 alliance unichem plc and boots group plc merger archive walgreens boots alliance . investor.walgreensbootsalliance.com . retrieved 2015 12 28 . viceira l. m. & mitusui a. m. 2003 pension policy at the boots company plc harvard business review havard business school 27 august 2003 a b c d boots learning store . boots learning store . 4 december 1999 . interwar retail internationalization boots under american ownership the international review of retail distribution and consumer research 7 2 1997 manoplax from heart to heartbreak with millions lost on its wonder . the independent . retrieved 2016 04 13 . boots is pacesetter for drug chains in the uk . findarticles.com . company news ; boots pharmaceuticals unit to go to basf of germany . the new york times . 1994 11 15 . issn 0362 4331 . retrieved 2016 04 13 . boots sells nurofen in 1.9 bn deal the telegraph and it s all thanks to a passion for a penny farthing bicycle the times boots in childrenswear pact to sell adams range the telegraph boots sells halfords the guardian boots to launch dental clinics . bbc news . 10 september 1998 . gilleo ken . boots decides that for 68m focus can do it all . boots ditches well being strategy the independent optical express buys boots laser business optician online boots announces 7bn merger deal . bbc news . 3 october 2005 . retrieved 29 may 2013 . craven neil 24 april 2007 . kkr agrees to buy alliance boots beating guy hands . bloomberg . retrieved 20 june 2014 . alliance boots takeover approved . bbc . 31 may 2007 . retrieved 1 august 2014 . lawrence felicity 11 december 2010 . how boots swiss move cost uk 100m a year . the guardian . retrieved 20 june 2014 . boots uk limited overview free company information from companies house . beta.companieshouse.gov.uk . retrieved 2015 12 28 . kanayati and boots . kanayatiandboots.blogspot.co.uk . retrieved 2015 12 28 . harry wallop 19 june 2012 . alliance boots sells 45pc stake to walgreens . the telegraph . retrieved 28 may 2013 . walgreens to buy up alliance boots . bbc news . 6 august 2014 . retrieved 24 october 2014 . aditya chakrabortty 13 april 2016 . boots staff under pressure to milk the nhs for cash says pharmacists union . guardian newspapers . retrieved 13 april 2016 . aditya chakrabortty 17 april 2016 . boots could face regulator s investigation after guardian report . guardian newspapers . retrieved 17 april 2016 . independent pharmacist s letter edited by boots owner . the guardian . 29 april