Boots owner hunting for new boss as chief eyes top clinic job

The US owner of Boots is looking for a new chief executive after its boss stood down to run one of Europe’s largest eye clinics.

Sebastian James – an Old Etonian and contemporary of Boris Johnson and David Cameron in Oxford University’s Bullingdon Club – will leave the high street stalwart in November after six years at the top.

James is set to become group chief executive of Veonet, which provides treatment to more than 2m patients a year across Europe.

The move, first reported by Sky News, comes just weeks after Walgreens Boots Alliance, which owns the British retailer, decided against a sale of stock market flotation of the chain.

Walgreens also abandoned sale plans in 2022 due to an ‘unexpected and dramatic change’ in market conditions.

The New York-listed firm, which has owned Boots since 2014, has seen its value tumble in the past year due to soaring debts.