Sir Nigel Rudd
Chairman
Notes
Good morning everyone.
I am Nigel Rudd, chairman of Boots.
With me here on the platform are Richard Baker our chief executive, who is well known to you, and Jim Smart, our financial controller, who is acting CFO until we appoint Howard Dodd’s successor.
Before I hand over to Richard, just a few observations from me.
This has been a year of great change for Boots - change that we have had to make against the background of a marked slowdown in UK consumer spending. The clear mandate from the Board to Richard when he arrived was to make the business more modern, competitive and efficient.
That is why we have been lowering prices, that is why we have been investing heavily in IT, and that is why we have been upgrading our retailing skills. It is also why profits are lower.
Boots the Chemists is already a very different business and Richard will take you through the some of the key achievements of the past year. But we are only 18 months into what is a five year task and so Richard will also be talking about what comes next and what you can expect to see from us over the next 12 months and beyond.
Richard
