Boots confirms appointment of outgoing Currys boss Baldock as new CEO

The high street health and beauty giant said that Baldock will succeed Anthony Hemmerdinger, who is currently managing director of Boots UK and Ireland. 

Boots said that Hemmerdinger will continue in his role until Baldock takes up his new post in the autumn. 

Alex Baldock said: “I’m honoured and delighted to be joining Boots as chief executive. Boots is an iconic, trusted brand with a strong heritage, and plays such an important role in millions of customers’ lives. This is an exciting new chapter for Boots, which is uniquely well-positioned to meet customers’ growing needs in beauty, health and wellness. I’m looking forward to working with the leadership team and our colleagues to make the most of the exceptional opportunity.”

The Boots Group board of directors commented: “We would like to thank Anthony Hemmerdinger for his commitment and dedication to Boots. His leadership has been pivotal in establishing The Boots Group as a standalone, private company and in reinforcing Boots’ leading position in beauty, health and wellness - demonstrated by 20 consecutive quarters of like-for-like retail share growth and customer satisfaction improvements. 

“As we look ahead, we are fully committed to continuing to offer an outstanding experience for all our communities and strongly believe in the opportunity for significant long-term growth at Boots.  Alex is an experienced, transformational leader with a track record of success, and we are delighted he will be joining us as we embark on our next phase of transformation, growth and investment.”

Baldock’s appointment was first reported by Sky News, which said that Boots owner The Chemist had selected Baldock to join the beauty and pharmaceutical chain as its chief executive to help steer the business through a potential multibillion-pound listing.

Currys revealed in March that Baldock would be stepping down from his position as chief executive after eight years.

The retailer said at the time that its boss was moving to “a new external position” and that it had begun a search to find his successor.

If confirmed, Baldock will be responsible for Boots’ pharmacy and retail operations in the UK, Ireland and Thailand, as well as Boots Opticians in the UK and the No7 Beauty Company.

The retailer employs roughly 52,000 people and trades from about 1,800 stores in the UK. 

During his time at Currys, Baldock led the business through an extensive omnichannel transformation, turned it from a loss-making to a profit-making business, and recently won Salesforce Leader of the Year at the Retail Week Awards.

Baldock said: “My eight years at Currys have been simply the best of my career, and I’ll always be a loyal Currys customer, advocate, and shareholder.”