Boots to stock Mothercare products in franchise tie-up

Boots will stock Mothercare-branded clothing, home and travel products in its larger stores from the middle of next year, and online from late summer.

Mothercare said it will also open “a number” of shop-in-shops inside Boots stores “over time”.

The embattled business added that the move would “provide the strong foundations for Mothercare’s continuing presence in the UK”.

The partnership will last for an initial period of five years, with contracts expected to be signed in the first quarter of next year.

Details of tie-up were revealed just a month after Mothercare’s UK business tumbled into administration. All of the retailer’s stores and offices will close, with the loss of 2,800 jobs.

The administration does not include Mothercare’s profitable overseas division, which will continue to trade as normal. It operates more than 1,000 stores in 40 countries across the globe.

Mothercare boss Mark Newton-Jones said: “I am delighted to announce that we have taken our long-standing partnership with Boots to this next stage. In Boots, another much loved British heritage brand, we believe that Mothercare has found the right home in the UK.

“Boots is at the heart of one of the largest healthcare businesses in the world, and Mothercare will fit in as the specialist brand for parents and young children in both Boots stores and online.”

Mothercare already supplies a limited range of its Mini Club childrenswear to Boots. Newton-Jones said he was looking forward to “working in even stronger collaboration with the Boots team”.

He added: “This partnership between Mothercare and Boots UK brings certainty and scale to our continuing group. These are exciting times as we enter into these new arrangements with a partner of the scale, scope and stature of Boots.”