Boots this week (January 15) confirmed that it has appointed Simon Gregg as its new chief retail officer, whose portfolio includes pharmacy.
“We are delighted to confirm that Simon Gregg...will join us on January 20 to take up the role of leading our talented stores, central operations and logistics teams across the UK,” a Boots spokesperson told C+D.
Read more: Boots parent company losses plunge to $265m in first quarter
“Gregg has a huge amount of retail experience from multiple executive leadership roles at Tesco and Asda,” they said.
“His superb know-how in leading big teams across expansive store estates, connecting physical and digital worlds to enhance the customer and colleague experience and passion for brilliant service will be invaluable as we enter the next stage of our ambitious transformation journey,” they added.
Read more: ‘Accept these terms or go’: Asda pharmacists face redundancy over new contracts
Gregg previously worked as Asda’s chief ecommerce and retail officer for three years, where his portfolio included its pharmacies, after first joining the supermarket chain in 2016.
His departure was announced by the company in June after it was “mutually decided” Gregg would leave the business in July.
Read more: Asda makes 475 staff redundant amid return-to-office mandate
Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa thanked him at the time “for his contributions to the business” and added that “he has been an important part of the leadership team and we wish him well in the future”.
Asda had no further comment about Gregg’s move to Boots when approached by C+D.
Asda shake-up
It comes as the supermarket chain announced significant cuts to head office roles in November as well as new office working requirements amid “challenging” market conditions”.
The 475 redundancies were part of Asda’s strategy “to remove duplication and simplify structures”, an Asda spokesperson told C+D at the time.
Read more: New pharmacist contract ‘in effect an increase in pay’, Asda says
Meanwhile, C+D revealed in June that Asda pharmacists would be asked to “work compressed contracted hours” and “fewer days” in new “voluntary” contracts.
Pharmacists that accepted the new contract were set to receive a one-off “pharmacist-payment”, an Asda spokesperson confirmed at the time.
Read more: Asda pays pharmacists incentive to accept reduced hours
But according to documents seen by C+D last month, Asda pharmacists at “some stores” who refuse to “align to [Asda’s] new model” have been offered redundancy.
The documents revealed that “after a thorough analysis” the supermarket has concluded “that the new model is the right decision for the future”.
