Colchester business bosses 'confident' Boots will remain

Boots, which has six branches in Colchester, including in Lion Walk and Tollgate, unveiled plans to shut down 300 shops over the next year on Tuesday.

The news of the historic firm’s decision to push forward with the raft of closures came in spite of the fact the company has recorded strong sales over the latest quarter.

The move, which Boots has said will impact stores in close proximity to other sites, will sees its store estate reduced from 2,200 to 1,900 branches.

Since the announcement, concerns have been raised over the future of Boots stores in Colchester, but Colchester BID manager Sam Good has now reassured shoppers.

Confident - Colchester BID manager Sam Good has now reassured shoppers (Image: Public)

He said: “Boots are a vital part of communities across the country.

“The city centre store in particular is crucial to our residents and visitors through the store, pharmacy and many other facilities on offer. 

“We are confident the city centre store will not be on the list of closure due to its position and levels of use however we will await further news once release.”

Martin Leatherdale, Lion Walk centre manager said, despite the national picture, he too was extremely confident Boots would remain in Colchester.

“Boots is an essential and intrinsic part of the city centre and has been for 50 years," he added.

"Not only does it serve thousands of customers a week, it also provides thousands of essential supplies to other regional medical facilities from the distribution centre on the upper floors. 

"It’s essentially a business within a business. 

“Obviously our thoughts are with any stores affected, but it’s very much business as usual in one of the regions best performing stores.

"What has been especially encouraging is the huge successes and increased footfall of the Courtyard and Vacay entertainment spaces near to Boots.

"I recently received a letter from the Boots manager to commend our immersive and experiential entertainment efforts and the positive impact on footfall and sales for the Boots store.”

Despite the shake-up, bosses have stressed no redundancies are being proposed, with impacted workers instead set to be redeployed across the Boots network.

A spokesman for Boots: “Evolving the store estate in this way allows Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed.

"[It means Boots can] focus investment more acutely in individual stores with the ambition of consistently delivering an excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up-to-date environment.”

The Gazette asked Boots whether stores in Colchester could be in line to close but a spokesman said the company would not be releasing details of affected stores at this stage.