// Boots boss slams landlords for requesting rent payments during Covid-19
// All the rent due “has now been released”
Boots has reportedly criticised a number of landlords who requested rent payments from the retailer during the pandemic.
The company’s UK managing director Sebastian James expressed “disappointment” in a letter sent to some of its landlords, Property Week reported.
James stated that all the rent due “has now been released”.
READ MORE: Women MPs call for Boots to reduce price of morning after pill
“There have been a number of complaints from some of our landlords about our stance during the pandemic, but I am afraid I am unapologetic about the fact that it does not seem very fair to me that there should be absolutely no sharing of the pain with our landlords, a stance with which 80 per cent of those we spoke to agreed,” the letter wrote.
“I am sorry that you chose not to be one of them. Your unpreparedness to support Boots was therefore a real disappointment.
“It is easy to be friends in good times, but we will not soon forget those who supported us in more difficult times.
“As we seek to manage our portfolio in the coming years, and as leases come up for renewal, it will not surprise you to recognise that we would rather work with pragmatic landlords who see the longer-term value in our relationship, than with those whose only focus appears to be on maximising short-term gain, even in the face of an unprecedented national crisis.”
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