Around 800 employees at the health and beauty giant's Beeston headquarters are involved in consultations, with up to 350 roles at risk, it confirmed to C+D this morning (February 28).

In a statement, which did not mention specific figures for impacted staff, Boots said it planned to reduce head office costs by around 20%, with the aim of "creating smaller and more agile support teams".

The multiple confirmed to C+D yesterday evening that no roles in its 2,485 pharmacies would be affected.

However, the pharmacy support function in its head office includes a "very small number of pharmacists who might be impacted".

"We will be doing everything we can to identify opportunities for redeployment to other roles," said the multiple, adding that "the vast majority of colleagues are not affected by today’s announcement".

Commenting on the restructure, Seb James, managing director Boots UK and ROI, said: "Like all retailers, we are operating in a new environment in which customers need us to move much faster and recognise that they want to shop differently.

"Boots has a powerful brand presence, 63,000 amazing colleagues, and the trust and loyalty of the people who shop with us across all our channels. These things make us very strong, but not immune to change, and the change we announce today will help assure the long-term future of this remarkable 170-year-old company.

"The vast majority of head office roles will be unaffected, and we intend to make sure that the number of people concerned is minimised through redeployment, natural attrition, flexible working and other measures. A consultation process with affected colleagues will begin immediately."

The restructure is part of a $1 billion global cost-saving programme announced by the parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance in December.