Boots expands franchise scheme

Boots Opticians has announced that after an extended franchise pilot it plans to continue to convert practices to franchises over the next 12 months.

The company is working with potential franchise partners and could not confirm how many practices would be affected but said from experience that it could be approximately a further 40-50 stores.

The company has 24 franchise practices at present, with a mixture of city centre in-store and freestanding practices.

'The franchise operating model is clearly working for us. Sales have grown, practice teams are enjoying working in the new businesses and customer experiences are positive.

Encouragingly, the original eight franchise practices continue to achieve good sales growth in their fourth year of trading,' said managing director Elizabeth Fagan.