Boots has confirmed that up to 90 jobs will go from its 260 strong property team but facilities management at its Nottingham headquarters will not be affected.

A spokesman for Boots said the job cuts were simply the consequence of plans announced last year to strip £100m from its operating costs. The savings will come from combining the development arm Boots Properties, the property and planning department of Boots the Chemists and the construction activity on the 300 acre Nottingham campus. Boots is withdrawing from large-scale town centre development and the intensive programme of new-build and refurbishment at the HQ has effectively ended.

Boot is unusual in contracting out very little of its facilities management and 275 staff provide "everything from telecoms to landscaping" at Nottingham. FM is a "separate entity" from the construction team.

Richard Byatt