'Jesse Boot would be rolling in his grave' - Broxtowe leader on Boots manufacturing and university job cuts

CONCERN ABOUT EFFECT ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES

- By JOSHUA HARTLEY

THE leader of Broxtowe Borough Council has warned that the area's fortunes could decline due to job cuts at the University of Nottingham and uncertainty over the future of Boots.

Councillor Milan Radulovic, has said he is “extremely concerned” about what the loss of more than 300 university jobs and the decline of manufacturing at Boots’ Thane Road site will mean for places like Beeston.

The Russell Group university announced plans to cut 258 professional service roles and remove 98 vacant posts in April, with a round of redundancies impacting academics expected later this year.

Meanwhile, hundreds of manufacturing jobs have left Boots’ HQ site in recent years, with BCM Fareva - which was sold by Boots’ parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) in 2017 - moving production of the company’s products to Wales, and Alliance Healthcare recently putting around 150 of its staff at Thane Road’s D80 service centre at risk.

“Jesse Boot would be rolling in his grave,” Mr Radulovic said, referring to the magnate who transformed his father’s business into a health and beauty giant and was a pivotal patron of the University of Nottingham, donating huge sums of money and land that helped establish its University Park campus.

The council leader said he feared the in-progress acquisition of Boots’ parent company WBA by private equity firm Sycamore Partners could lead to the number of jobs at the Thane Road site being further reduced.