High street chemist Boots is expected to announce plans to cut 1,000 jobs as part of a shake-up by its new chief executive.

The jobs are expected to go at the group's head office in Nottingham, which currently employs 3,000 staff.

The latest cuts come after the group announced it was axing 500 head office staff in June, as well as cutting 700 jobs when its failed Wellbeing beauty treatments arm was closed and 1,000 when it shut a factory in Airdrie in Lanarkshire.

The move is part of its "Getting in Shape" programme, through which the group hopes to achieve £100 million of cost savings by the 2005/2006 financial year.

Chief executive Richard Baker, who joined the group from Asda in September, is expected to announce the latest round of job cuts when he updates the City on Christmas trading on Friday.

Boots, which declined to comment on the speculation, is understood to be talking to staff this week about the cuts.

It said in a statement: We will not respond to speculation on what may or may not be involved in these changes, as decisions have not been finalised."

In the run-up to Christmas head office managers had £3 million cut from their budget to be reinvested in the group's 1,400 stores in a bid to tempt more customers inside.

On Friday, Mr Baker is also expected to announce the next stage of the Boots "Lower Prices You'll Love" campaign in which it invested £40 million in shifting away from promotional and special deals to focus on offering permanently reduced prices.

Mr Baker, who was appointed to make Boots "more modern, more effective and more competitive", may announce other modernisation plans including revamping the group's stores and having more of them open on Sundays.

Fund manager Gerrard expects the group to announce three per cent sales growth for the Christmas period.

Last week supermarket group Tesco announced it was investing £70 million in price cuts on health and beauty products in a move that was seen as a direct attack on Boots.

Monday January 12, 2004