Boots UK Limited

Boots UK Limited (formerly Boots the Chemists), trading as Boots, is a British health and beauty retailer and the biggest  pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom. It had 2,200 shops across the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2022.  It also operates in Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Malta, Thailand and Indonesia.

In  August 2019, there were  3,063 Boots stores across six countries:

 United Kingdom: 2,465
 Thailand: 293
 Norway: 159
 Republic of Ireland: 89
 Netherlands: 59
 Malta: 3
 Indonesia: 3

It was started in 1849, by John Boot in Nottingham.  In the 1960s, it developed the painkiller Ibuprofen. 

The company merged with Alliance UniChem in 2006, to form Alliance Boots.  It was bought by a private equity firm.in 2007.  Walgreens bought a 45% of Alliance Boots in 2012, 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.

References

Category:1849 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Retail companies of the United Kingdom
Category:Pharmacies
Category:Nottingham