Boots Opticians' merger with rival chain Dollond & Aitchison (D&A), announced on January 29, will lead to no immediate branch closures, according to bosses from both companies.
Speaking to Optician, Pradip Patel (currently managing director of Boots Opticians) said that no branch closures were being planned. 'One of the main reasons for the merger is because we want to grow our business and expand beyond the 690 practices it will create. Once the deal is completed we want to look at all the options available to us before we make any decisions, keeping in mind our priority of what is right for the customer,' he said. Patel explained that the new company would look at areas where Boots and D&A branches currently exist within close proximity of each other.
Asked about redudancies, he responded: 'In reference to job losses, we want to grow the business and we want to keep all our good people with us.'
The deal will result in the disappearance of the D&A branding from the high street and the combined businesses trading as Boots Opticians.
A body of approximately 690 practices (including around 210 franchises) will be created by the unification of the chains, which will trade under the Boots branding and employ more than 5,000 people.
Alliance Boots, the parent company of Boots Opticians will hold a 60 per cent stake in the new company which will be 40 per cent owned by eyewear manufacturer De Rigo. It will be run as a stand-alone business, with headquarters based in Nottingham, meaning the closure of D&A's Birmingham headquarters. Within the new business, Patel will become chairman and Andy Ferguson (currently chief executive officer of D&A) will be appointed as managing director.
The transaction, which is subject to the approval of the competition authorities, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2009.
Ferguson added that 'the ideal scenario' would be to draw from the best facets of both companies including management staff. 'We want to grow the business, therefore we want to keep all the good people with us,' he stated. He said that no decisions had been made regarding who would supply lenses to the re-branded practices with D&A currently supplied by BBGR and Boots supplied by Hoya.
Whether the re-branded practices would carry a laser surgery offering was also yet to be decided according to Ferguson. Speaking about D&A's current partnership agreement with Ultralase he said: 'Along with everything else in the future, we need to look at what both businesses are doing and make decisions on whether that relationship will continue and be developed in the future or not. It's too early for us to say what will happen going forward.'
The new merged venture would 'combine the elements of the Boots brand and its reputation for health and beauty with De Rigo's expertise in fashion and design-led eyewear,' said Ferguson.
Ferguson also referred 'to the strength that the Boots brand has with fragrance', claiming: 'We've been looking at being able to leverage that and make more of it in the future.'
Ferguson and Patel maintained that both businesses would continue to be run as normal until the merger has been approved, with no changes yet planned. 'We need to do the homework first in terms of customer research and do some early thinking in terms of how we want to organise ourselves. We may want to do some quick trials to make sure what re-branding looks like. The plan is then to consider re-branding options so we could either do it over a period of time or we could accelerate it,' said Patel.
D&A will also fulfil its commitments to franchisees for as long as their agreements lasted, added Ferguson, saying that they would continue to be supported in the same manner with advertising. 'In the long term there may be an opportunity for those franchisees to take out a new agreement under the Boots Opticians brand and I'm sure as the new business develops and we get momentum behind it, then the majority of our franchise partners will want to play a part in the new company,' he said. He also suggested that franchisees could be able to re-brand as Boots Opticians prior to the end of their current agreements.
The student programmes of both chains will be incorporated, combining successful elements of each according to Patel who said he hoped to 'create something that is even better than both of them.'