Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd
Other Business Names:
- Boot, John
- Boot & Co Ltd
- United Drug Co
- Boots & Co Ltd
- Boots Co Plc
- Alliance Boots Plc
- Boots Booklovers' Library
- Boot, Jessie, Lord Trent
Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:
- Beeston, City of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England
- Nottingham, City of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England
Sectors:
-
Other goods production
Healthcare products manufacture inc dressings, hygiene products, sutures, etc
-
Business services
Library & related services
-
Chemical production
Pharmaceutical production & research
-
Distribution - retailing
Pharmaceutical, cosmetic & toilet goods & medical equipment retailing
Notes:
Established in 1849 by John Boot , d1860, as a herbal retail business in Nottingham and built into a national chain of chemist shops by his son, Jesse, Lord Trent, 1850-1931. Added proprietary medicines and household goods and in 1884 started pharmacy. 1885 Started to manufacture healthcare products. Incorporated as Boot & Co Ltd 1883. 1888 public company known as Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd. 1898 established a lending library service known as Boots Book-Lovers' Library, located within branches, which continued until 1966. By 1914 had 500 stores; by 1933 1,000. 1920 control acquired by United Drug Co of USA but bought back by British investors in 1933. 1968 acquired Timothy Whites & Taylors Ltd. 1971 renamed Boots & Co Ltd and as Boots Co Plc in 1982. 1990s pharmaceutical interests sold to BASF AG. Merged with Alliance UniChem Plc in 2006 to form Alliance Boots Plc. Subsequently acquired by private equity interests. Continues in 2020s with 2,200 stores in the UK and Ireland [2023]
Publications:
- A Cap for Boots. An autobiography by Greenwood, John E
- Achievement. A record of fifty years' progress of Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd by Roberts, Cecil
- Boots 1877-1977. 100 Years of Shopping at Boots by Walker, Elizabeth
- 'Boots Book-Lovers' Library. Domesticating the exotic and building provincial literary taste' in N Wilson (ed), The Book World. Selling and distributing British literature, 1900-1940 by Dugan, Sally
- 'Boots' in W B Beable, Romance of Great Businesses by Beable, William H
- Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd. 'Chemists to the nation' by Unknown
- 'British pharmaceutical industry and the First World War' in J Liebenau (ed), The Challenge of New Technology by Robson, Michael
- Business archives and changes in popular music distribution and retailing in the United Kingdom, 1950-2000 by Tennent, Kevin D
- 'Character, grit and personality'. Continued education, recreation and training in the Boots Pure Drug Company, 1918-45 by Phillips, Simon
- 'Chemists to the nation'. House magazines, locality and health at Boots the Chemists, 1919-39 by Phillips, Simon
- 'Development and organisation of Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd' in R S Edwards & H Townsend (eds), Studies in Business Organisation. A supplement to 'Business Enterprise' by Cockfield, F A
- Industrial Welfare and Recreation at Boots Pure Drug Co, 1883-1945 by Phillips, Simon
- Industrial welfare and recreation in Boots Pure Drug Co. Methodological perspectives by Phillips, Simon
- Interwar retail internationalization. Boots under American ownership by Whysall, P T
- 'Jesse Boot, 1850-1931' in Ian C Bradley, Enlightened Entrepreneurs. Business ethics in Victorian Britain by Bradley, Ian C
- Jesse Boot of Boots the Chemists. A study in business history by Chapman, Stanley D
- Jesse Boot of Nottingham, Founder of The Boots Company by Weir, Christopher
- Lipsticks and Library Books. The story of Boots Booklovers' Library by Winter, Jackie
- Managing business performance. The contrasting cases of two multiple retailers, 1920 to 1939 by Hull, Andrew
- Out of the Darkroom. A short history of the photofinishing industry by Rockwell, Peter L M, & Peter W Knaack
- Retailing under resale price maintenance: Economies of scale and scope, and firm strategic response, in the interwar British retail pharmacy sector by Scott, Peter, & James Walker
- Souvenir of Boots Beeston Factory by Unknown
- Souvenir of HRH the Prince of Wales ... Visit to the Works of Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd, Nottingham ... 1923 by Unknown
- 'Strategy and structure at Boots the Chemists' in L Hannah (ed), Management Strategy and Business Development by Chapman, Stanley D
Groups:
Other Business Names:
- Boot, John
- Boot & Co Ltd
- United Drug Co
- Boots & Co Ltd
- Boots Co Plc
- Alliance Boots Plc
- Boots Booklovers' Library
- Boot, Jessie, Lord Trent
Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:
- Beeston, City of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England
- Nottingham, City of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England
Sectors:
- Other goods production Healthcare products manufacture inc dressings, hygiene products, sutures, etc
- Business services Library & related services
- Chemical production Pharmaceutical production & research
- Distribution - retailing Pharmaceutical, cosmetic & toilet goods & medical equipment retailing
Notes:
Established in 1849 by John Boot , d1860, as a herbal retail business in Nottingham and built into a national chain of chemist shops by his son, Jesse, Lord Trent, 1850-1931. Added proprietary medicines and household goods and in 1884 started pharmacy. 1885 Started to manufacture healthcare products. Incorporated as Boot & Co Ltd 1883. 1888 public company known as Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd. 1898 established a lending library service known as Boots Book-Lovers' Library, located within branches, which continued until 1966. By 1914 had 500 stores; by 1933 1,000. 1920 control acquired by United Drug Co of USA but bought back by British investors in 1933. 1968 acquired Timothy Whites & Taylors Ltd. 1971 renamed Boots & Co Ltd and as Boots Co Plc in 1982. 1990s pharmaceutical interests sold to BASF AG. Merged with Alliance UniChem Plc in 2006 to form Alliance Boots Plc. Subsequently acquired by private equity interests. Continues in 2020s with 2,200 stores in the UK and Ireland [2023]Publications:
- A Cap for Boots. An autobiography by Greenwood, John E
- Achievement. A record of fifty years' progress of Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd by Roberts, Cecil
- Boots 1877-1977. 100 Years of Shopping at Boots by Walker, Elizabeth
- 'Boots Book-Lovers' Library. Domesticating the exotic and building provincial literary taste' in N Wilson (ed), The Book World. Selling and distributing British literature, 1900-1940 by Dugan, Sally
- 'Boots' in W B Beable, Romance of Great Businesses by Beable, William H
- Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd. 'Chemists to the nation' by Unknown
- 'British pharmaceutical industry and the First World War' in J Liebenau (ed), The Challenge of New Technology by Robson, Michael
- Business archives and changes in popular music distribution and retailing in the United Kingdom, 1950-2000 by Tennent, Kevin D
- 'Character, grit and personality'. Continued education, recreation and training in the Boots Pure Drug Company, 1918-45 by Phillips, Simon
- 'Chemists to the nation'. House magazines, locality and health at Boots the Chemists, 1919-39 by Phillips, Simon
- 'Development and organisation of Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd' in R S Edwards & H Townsend (eds), Studies in Business Organisation. A supplement to 'Business Enterprise' by Cockfield, F A
- Industrial Welfare and Recreation at Boots Pure Drug Co, 1883-1945 by Phillips, Simon
- Industrial welfare and recreation in Boots Pure Drug Co. Methodological perspectives by Phillips, Simon
- Interwar retail internationalization. Boots under American ownership by Whysall, P T
- 'Jesse Boot, 1850-1931' in Ian C Bradley, Enlightened Entrepreneurs. Business ethics in Victorian Britain by Bradley, Ian C
- Jesse Boot of Boots the Chemists. A study in business history by Chapman, Stanley D
- Jesse Boot of Nottingham, Founder of The Boots Company by Weir, Christopher
- Lipsticks and Library Books. The story of Boots Booklovers' Library by Winter, Jackie
- Managing business performance. The contrasting cases of two multiple retailers, 1920 to 1939 by Hull, Andrew
- Out of the Darkroom. A short history of the photofinishing industry by Rockwell, Peter L M, & Peter W Knaack
- Retailing under resale price maintenance: Economies of scale and scope, and firm strategic response, in the interwar British retail pharmacy sector by Scott, Peter, & James Walker
- Souvenir of Boots Beeston Factory by Unknown
- Souvenir of HRH the Prince of Wales ... Visit to the Works of Boots Pure Drug Co Ltd, Nottingham ... 1923 by Unknown
- 'Strategy and structure at Boots the Chemists' in L Hannah (ed), Management Strategy and Business Development by Chapman, Stanley D