Boots has poached Tesco’s convenience managing director Tracey Clements to be its new chief operating officer, according to Retail Week.
The health and beauty retailer also appointed former Tesco strategy director David Hobbs as its new UK trading director.
Both new hires will report to Boots UK and Ireland’s newly-installed managing director Seb James.
Clements will join under a new role of chief operating officer for the UK and Republic of Ireland in the new year.
She will be responsible for store operations and supply chain, as well as P&L responsibility for the Boots business in the Republic of Ireland.
The move comes after a 17-year stint at Tesco for Clements, where she will step down from her current role of chief executive of the supermarket’s One Stop convenience fascia.
Meanwhile, Hobbs joined Boots last month after 13 years at Tesco, where he was most recently group strategy business planning director and sat on the grocer’s executive board.
“I’d like to welcome Tracey and David to the team,” James said.
“I feel very lucky to be working with such a strong executive team as we build the next chapter for Boots.
The appointments come after what Boots’ parent company Walgreens described as a “challenging year” for the retailer, following a decline in both its pharmacy and retail divisions.
Back in October Walgreens Boots Alliance, which is based in the US, blamed Boots’ fourth quarter results on fewer prescriptions and the pharmacy funding cuts in the UK.
The company said at the time that it was “taking actions to address [its] UK retail performance”, including plans to invest in new store and digital content, and the appointment of “seasoned specialist retailer” James as Boots’ senior vice president and managing director.
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