Boots Opticians Ltd. operates a chain of ophthalmic and dispensing optician stores in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The company is a subsidiary of

Walgreens Boots Alliance Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. is an American-British-Swiss holding company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois that owns the retail pharmacy chains Walgreens and Boots, as well as several pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution companie ...

(58%) and De Rigo (42%).

History

The company began trading in the British optical retail market in 1983 in Nottingham, before opening practices in Peterborough, Leeds, Mansfield, Luton and Derby in 1984. Boots Opticians Ltd was formed as a subsidiary of Boots The Chemists Ltd in 1987, with the acquisition of Clement Clarke Ltd. and Curry and Paxton Ltd. All of Boots Opticians' laser eye surgeries were bought by

Optical Express Optical Express is a provider of ophthalmology services including laser eye surgery, cataract surgery and lens replacement surgery in the United Kingdom and Europe. Optical Express is a trading name of ''DCM (Optical Holdings) Limited'' which ...

in late 2004. On 29 January 2009, it was announced that Boots Opticians were to merge with

Dollond & Aitchison Dollond & Aitchison was one of the oldest chains of retail opticians in the United Kingdom, having been established in 1750. The business was absorbed into Boots Opticians in 2009 and stores were rebranded under the Boots Opticians name, comp ...

, forming a chain of 690 stores and 5,000 staff after Boots purchased a controlling share in D&A. In May 2019, the company was reported to be considering closing more than 200 stores within two years. there were around 630 stores, 180 of them operated by franchisees. Amid falling sales during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, plans to close 48 stores were announced in July 2020.

Misconduct case

In February 2019, the

General Optical Council The General Optical Council (GOC) is an organisation in the United Kingdom which maintains a register of opticians and regulates the services provided by dispensing opticians and optometrists. The stated function of the GOC is "''to protect the pu ...

(GOC), the regulator for the optical professions in the UK, imposed a fine of £50,000 – the maximum allowed – on Boots Opticians Professional Services Ltd for mishandling a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

case. In 2014, an optometrist employed by Boots had uncovered deficiencies in earlier work of another employee, affecting several patients, and Boots management had not responded appropriately. The GOC ruled that the company's fitness to carry on business was "impaired by reason of misconduct".

References

External links

* {{British Royal Warrant holders 1983 establishments in the United Kingdom Companies based in Nottingham British companies established in 1983 Retail companies established in 1983 Eyewear retailers of the United Kingdom Retail companies of the United Kingdom Eyewear companies of the United Kingdom Walgreens Boots Alliance

History

Misconduct case

See also

References

External links