Boots company information
About Boots Ireland
We are a leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer with 89 Boots Ireland stores and just over 2,000 employees.* Established in Ireland since 1996, the Boots brand is at the heart of the communities it serves
DISCOVER BOOTS IRELAND
Boots Ireland's purpose is to help customers look and feel better than they ever thought possible. Customers are at the heart of the Boots Ireland business. We are committed to providing exceptional customer and patient care, being the first choice for pharmacy and healthcare and offering innovative products 'only at Boots', such as No7 – all delivered with the great value our customers love.
Boots Ireland is a member of Walgreens Boots Alliance, the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise, whose purpose is to help people across the world lead healthier and happier lives.
Find out more about Walgreens Boots Alliance here
Did you know?
- Our highly skilled beauty consultants offer our customers free beauty advice
- Our trained pharmacists offer customers quality health and wellbeing advice
- Our new Essentials range includes great quality toiletries from prices as low as 65c, and all of the products are created and developed by Boots
- We have one of the most generous loyalty schemes on the high street, giving our customers an amazing 3 points per €1 with our Advantage Card.
BOOTS FOR VALUE
Our dedication to offering great value has remained unchanged and because we believe that our customers deserve great quality and value all year long, we check thousands of prices every single week. This keeps us up to date with what's happening in the market so we can be more competitive.
But we believe value is about more than just price. We bring great value to our customers in lots of other ways including fantastic promotions throughout the year, expert health and beauty advice and 3 points per €1 with our famous Advantage Card. Our customers can also sign up for extra benefits, such as our More Treats For Over 60s scheme.
ONLY AT BOOTS
Committed to offering our customers innovative &
fantastic new products
We do this through our brand expertise along with our strong product development and sourcing capabilities.
Many of our product brands, such as No7 skincare and make-up, hold market leading positions in the UK and are growing fast in both profile and market penetration.
Almost all of our innovative, unique products are developed in our own product development, testing and customer evaluation facilities in Nottingham, UK. These unique facilities provide us with a significant skills and resource base to evolve and grow our product portfolio, giving our customers innovative and fantastic new products.
Online shopping
Boots.ie launched in June 2013 offering our customers the opportunity to buy health, beauty and baby products online. The launch of boots.ie also means every store now has the ability to order products for their customers, meaning customers have access to the entire range of Boots products in every store.
We are developing even more ways for our customers to shop with us; in October 2014 we launched our 'order & collect' service followed by the launch of our boots.ie mobile site in November 2014. This helps ensure that our customers can access the fantastic Boots range that we are famous for in the most convenient way for them.
OUR STORES
We're here to help our customers look and feel better than they ever thought possible.
Our larger Boots health and beauty stores offer destination shopping with a wide range of products including all Boots leading brands. Our flagship stores also offer beauty halls with beauty consultants and premium cosmetics. Our Boots airport stores have targeted ranges to meet the needs of our customers when they're travelling.
And we will reach even more of our customers where they want us by continuing to acquire new pharmacies, putting pharmacy at the heart of our communities.
Our dedicated team, located in Dublin, supports our stores and customers.
PHARMACY
We're on a mission to provide our customers and patients with great healthcare products and services, which help them look and feel better than they ever imagined.
Healthcare at Boots is not just about dispensing prescriptions, but also about offering expert advice to all our patients and customers, ensuring they get top quality patient care in a location that is convenient to them.
Our promise to you
When you visit one of our pharmacies, we promise to:
- Put you and what you want first
- Help you as quickly as we can
- Be friendly and treat you with respect
- Listen to your ideas on how we can improve and act on them when we can
- Sort out any problems quickly and efficiently
- Use everyday language, without medical jargon
- Give you impartial and confidential advice
- Suggest other services that might be of help
- Give you useful leaflets and information
If we don't, please let us know. We take our promises seriously.
HERITAGE
At the heart of our business is our commitment to our customers and patients. From the humble beginnings of both Alliance Pharmacy and Boots, key figures have had the vision to push boundaries and seek new solutions. Today it's this same spirit that powers our business, helping us make a real difference.
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL & GOVERNANCE
Irish Cancer Society
Boots Ireland have partnered with the Irish Cancer Society since 2012 and the partnership has grown and evolved to become a core element of our ESG programme which includes fundraising, volunteering, raising awareness of cancer as well as early detection.
To date, since partnering with the Irish Cancer Society, we have raised over €2.8 million for the Irish Cancer Society’s Night Nursing service, which is a nationwide service providing up to 10 nights free end of life care, allowing patients to remain in their own homes. This has helped to provide over 8,000 nights of Night Nursing care and has been achieved through a programme of fundraising activities and events taking place across all of our stores throughout the year culminating in our annual ‘Boots Night Walk for Night Nurses’. This fantastic achievement would not have been possible without the generosity and support of our customers and patients, so a big thank you.
Our Night Walk is a 5km walk taking place around the country with honour tags on sale across our stores, with one metre being walked in honour of someone who has been affected by cancer. The walk happens in September each year, and you can sign up to join us at an in-person walk that takes place in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, or sign up to join us from afar and complete your own 5km walk at a location of your choosing.
You can show your support by making a donation or signing up to complete the walk and setting up your own fundraising page at www.bootsnightwalk.com which includes full details of the event.
Throughout the course of the partnership, we have been awarded:
• National Fundraising Ireland Awards - Best Corporate Charity Partnership
• Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards (formerly Chambers Ireland CSR Awards) - Community - Partnership with a Charity MNC
• Irish Healthcare Awards - Pharmaceutical Social Commitment Project of the Year
We have utilised our skills as a healthcare and beauty provider with the launch of the Boots Irish Cancer Society Information Pharmacist which complements the role of the Boots Cancer Beauty Advisor. Both roles help people in dealing with the effects of cancer by providing advice in helping them to both look and feel better.
Boots Ireland was also awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award at Chambers Ireland’s CSR Awards 2019, through consistently demonstrating commitment to CSR in its company values and consistently meeting key judging criteria across all aspects of CSR.
BUSINESS IN THE COMMUNITY (BITC)
In partnership with Business in the Community, we run a variety of activities:
We support the Schools Business Partnership Programme called the ‘World of Work’. This programme provides second year, post-primary school students with an opportunity to meet with our team members in order to learn about the world of work. The programme is aimed at students who may be at risk of leaving school early and helps to facilitate conversations and insights to the many roles in the workplace and encourages young minds to look to the future. We support eight schools across the country through a series of five workshops in each school throughout the academic year.
In 2022, BITC celebrated businesses and schools that were active in the school’s business partnership programmes for 10 years; Boots were delighted to receive a certification marking 10 years of partnership with Collinstown Park Community School in Dublin.
As part of the Managing Excellence for Teachers & Principals programme (MET & MEP), we use the professional skills & expertise we have within our business to deliver workshops to school staff across a range of topics including Leadership, Marketing & PR and Operations. During these sessions, principals and teachers get to take time out to hear about the world of business and how that might be of benefit to their school and students.
BUSINESS WORKING RESPONSIBLY MARK
At Boots Ireland, we’re proud to have been the first retailer to achieve the Business in the Community Ireland Business Working Responsibly Mark in 2013 and equally proud to have been re-accredited for a third time in 2021.
Based on ISO26000, the Mark is the top CSR and Sustainability standard in Ireland. The Mark provides a root and branch review of the organisation, assessing and certifying the full CSR Management System from Context to Continuous Improvement across five broad pillars:
- CSR Governance
- Marketplace (Business Value Chain)
- Workplace
- Environment
- Community
The Mark is independently audited by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI). Once achieved, certification is valid for three years.
DEMENTIA: UNDERSTAND TOGETHER
Boots Ireland is a partner of the Dementia: Understand Together campaign* and by providing training to all staff, we're working towards providing and promoting a dementia-inclusive environment across all of our retail and pharmacy outlets.
The training which was developed with the Dementia: Understand Together campaign* helps colleagues to identify people with dementia when they visit a store or pharmacy and the ways in which a staff member can facilitate a dementia-inclusive experience for the customer.
SEE CHANGE
We've partnered with See Change - The National Mental Health Stigma Reduction Partnership, since 2017.
See Change’s mission is working positively to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental health problems and to ensure that everyone enjoys the same rights on an equal basis.
Through the National Green Ribbon campaign, the aim is to make the month of September every year synonymous with promoting open conversations on mental health and challenging the stigma associated with mental health problems.
Show your support this September by popping into your local Boots store to pick up a green ribbon (which are free of charge and subject to availability). Boots Ireland is proud to be a national distributor on the See Change Green Ribbon campaign.
For more information on the See Change Green Ribbon campaign visit the See Change website here or to find out about additional supports for those affected by mental health problems you can visit the HSE website here.
In recognition of the partnership, Boots Ireland won the 2018 Chambers Ireland Corporate Social Responsibility Award for Excellence in Workplace MNC.
SAFE PHARMACY
Boots Ireland initially partnered with Safe Ireland in June 2020 to provide a safe space for those experiencing domestic violence amidst COVID-19. This partnership was recognised in the Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards in 2021.
Boots Ireland is delighted to now partner with the Irish Pharmacy Union on the Safe Pharmacy initiative. As part of this initiative we offer a safe private space in our pharmacies where persons experiencing domestic abuse can get access to a phone and contact details for local support services.
LOCAL COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Our stores support in local communities across the country utilising the talents of our colleagues in skill based volunteering.
Boots Ireland would like to thank all our customers for your on-going support across all of our corporate responsibility initiatives. .
GENDER PAY GAP REPORTING
In accordance with the Government's Gender Pay Gap Regulations, Boots Ireland has published its Gender Pay Gap Report as of June 2023. You can download a copy of the report here.
HYGIENE HUB
Boots Ireland has partnered with Hygiene Hub Ireland, providing drop off points in 15 stores where people can donate hygiene products which are provided to those in need. People are invited to donate a range of unopened and unused products such as dental products, deodorants, body wash, nappies, baby wipes, razors and shaving foam, period products, hairbrushes, shampoo and conditioner.
Hygiene poverty is not being able to afford many of the everyday hygiene and personal grooming products most of us take for granted. The reality of low income is that it restricts people’s options, leaving people caught between being able to heat homes, pay rent, eat or be clean. Hygiene Hub Ireland is a grassroots organisation, which tackles hygiene poverty by delivering donated hygiene and household cleaning products to community partners who work with vulnerable and marginalised communities.
A WORD ON THE PARTNERSHIP
Speaking about the partnership, Ciára Dalton, Head of Marketing at Hygiene Hub Ireland said, “Everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living, yet with 640,000 people at risk of poverty and the cost of living on the rise, hygiene products can often be at the bottom of the shopping list for people who are struggling to make ends meet. The impact of this can be immense. A child might be bullied for going to school with matted hair because the family doesn’t have a hairbrush, or a woman might not leave the house for several days each month as she doesn’t have period products. As the national charity for hygiene poverty, Hygiene Hub Ireland is dedicated to working towards eradicating this problem whilst supporting those most at risk of hygiene poverty with the products they need. That’s why our partnership with Boots Ireland is so important as it will see our network of drop-off points increase and we encourage everyone who is able, to consider donating relevant products at those Boots Ireland stores taking part in this initiative.”
Martha Ryan, Head of Human Resources Boots Ireland & ESG Lead said, “We are proud to be partner with Hygiene Hub Ireland in supporting them with the expansion of its network of drop-off points for people to donate unused and unopened hygiene products. At Boots Ireland, we are committed to engaging with our local communities to improve societal health and wellbeing which Hygiene Hub Ireland firmly delivers. There is a stigma associated with the issue (hygiene poverty), so it can be hidden in plain sight. That’s why the work of Hygiene Hub Ireland is so important in making sure that hygiene products get to those most at risk."
DROP OFF POINTS
Galway:
- Shop Street
- Wellpark
Donegal:
- Letterkenny retail park
Cork:
- Blackpool
- Half Moon Street
- Douglas
Tipperary:
- Clonmel, Gladstone Street
Dublin:
- Dundrum town centre
- Carrickmines
- Swords The Pavilion shopping centre
- Liffey Valley shopping centre
- Blanchardstown shopping centre
- Malahide, Church Street
Wicklow:
- Abbey Street
- Bray, Main Street
