Boots merger will not affect IT plans

Retail giant adds two years and £26m to contract with Xansa

High-street retailer Boots will press on with its existing IT plans following the announcement of a merger with Alliance UniChem in a £7bn deal.

Although it is unclear how Boots’ IT programme will alter when the new pan-European pharmaceutical retailer is created, Rob Fraser, IT director at Boots, says there will be no changes until the deal is approved.

‘For that reason, we will be pushing ahead with our current plans in a business-as-usual-style when delivering this and next year’s commitments,’ he said.

The company has just extended a contract with IT services firm Xansa for a further two years, worth £26m.

The new agreement will lengthen the current seven-year £90m deal to 2011, and the retail giant hopes the deal will generate millions of pounds in savings during that time.

As part of the new contract, Fraser says Boots is exploring a business process outsourcing (BPO) arrangement with Xansa for the management of its Advantage loyalty card scheme, following the completion of several major technology projects.

There are 13 million Advantage cards in circulation, and Fraser says the IT services firm will administer the programme for 75 per cent of the current cost.

Xansa has been working with Boots since 2002 on a three-year technology transformation project which is nearing completion.

Fraser says the retailer will now be able to concentrate on reaping the benefits from the completed technology projects, such as a major SAP implementation that was finalised in August.

‘The focus will be on how we become more efficient within IT,’ he said.

Boots is also wrapping up a new centralised patient medication record system, which will hold details of customers’ prescriptions.

‘The first phase of that project will end this month,’ said Fraser.