Boots dispenses with legal staff in rejig of head office

Boots is slashing lawyers and support staff from its in-house legal team as part of the pharmacy retailer’s radical drive to streamline its head office.

The retailer has offered voluntary redundancy to a number of its lawyers, paralegals and secretaries. Both the legal services division, which deals with personal injury and employment matters, and the group legal, which handles corporate and competition work, have been affected.

It is understood that at least five lawyers and other staff have accepted the offer.

The move comes after Boots announced in January that it would be cutting 900 jobs from its head office as part of a cost-cutting drive.

The news follows a wave of redundancies across in-house legal teams, with Cable & Wireless, HMV, mm02 and Primus all taking the axe to their legal teams in the last year.

A Boots spokesperson said: “We’re rejigging the legal roles, and the redundancies have affected all levels of staff, reflecting the changing structure of the company.”