Boots has bought out a small chain of pharmacies in the East Midlands and pledged to maintain its reputation for "excellent healthcare advice and commitment to local communities".

The multiple announced the acquisition of family-run business Burrows & Close Ltd, a chain of 17 pharmacies in the Nottingham area, for an undisclosed sum last week (April 2).

Boots will be keeping the current pharmacy teams and said it would begin rebranding the stores as ‘Your local Boots pharmacy' later this year. The rebranded stores will operate an ‘order online and collect in-store' service and offer Boots brands including No7, Boots Pharmaceuticals, Botanics and Soltan.

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	Boots told C+D the location of the Burrows & Close branches complemented its existing pharmacies in the East Midlands area. The opportunity had arisen because the current owner was retiring, it explained.

"We are delighted to welcome such a strong pharmacy team to Boots," said Ghada Beal, head of region at Books UK. "[We] share a similar a similar heritage – both founded by local men who were committed to providing communities in Nottingham with excellent access to healthcare – so we are looking forward to continuing their legacy."

Lyndon Close, superintendent of the Burrows & Close group, said he was confident the pharmacies would maintain the level of care provided to customers. "We have built a strong team and hope that they will be able to progress their clinical careers even further by being part of Boots UK," he added.

Boots has nearly 2,500 stores across the UK and around 60,000 employees.

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