Alliance Healthcare this week (March 11) announced that it “plans to close” its service centres in Nottingham and Hinckley, Leicestershire, in a bid to “strengthen its supply chain”.
The wholesaler has also proposed “up to 110 job losses” at its South Normanton site, according to trade union Usdaw.
“In total, there will be upwards of 845 roles at risk across the three sites affected,” it said.
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A spokesperson for Alliance said that despite these closures, the wholesaler is “making significant investments across its network” and is opening a new central logistics centre (CLC) in Birmingham to “strengthen its supply chain solutions and operations”.
“As part of a continued focus on aligning its capabilities with customers’ evolving needs, Alliance Healthcare UK plans to close its service centres in Hinckley and Nottingham and transition slow moving medical lines from South Normanton service centre [SC] to the CLC in 2026”, they said.
“Operations will remain unchanged at least until spring 2026, when the new CLC opens,” they added.
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The spokesperson stressed that “this decision was not made lightly” and added that the wholesaler “greatly appreciates the contributions of the impacted team members and is committed to providing support to individuals impacted by these changes”.
But Usdaw, which represents Alliance workers at the site on the Boots Nottingham estate, said that “there could be around 150 job losses” at this site too if it closes.
“Devastating news”
And Usdaw national officer Darren Matthews said that “this is devastating news for the staff impacted”, adding that the union “will now enter into a consultation process, where [it] will question the business case for these proposals”.
“We expect the consultation to start as a matter of urgency [and] in the meantime, we are providing our members with the support, advice and representation they need at this very difficult time,” he added.
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Alliance Healthcare was sold by Boots’ parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) in 2021 for £4.7 billion ($6.5bn).
And just last week, WBA announced that it had finally been sold to private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a long-anticipated deal that appears to include Boots UK.
“The total value of the transaction represents up to $23.7bn,” it said, adding that the deal “is expected to close in the fourth quarter calendar year 2025, subject to customary closing conditions”.
