Waitrose has announced a new partnership with Boots, along with company expansion plans and the creation of more jobs.

Waitrose has vowed to create thousands of new jobs through company expansion, increasing its Welcome Break relationship and its newly-announced partnership with Boots.

This news follows its recent strong half-year profits, which reported gross sales up 7.4%, operating profit up 18.7%, and customer numbers up 6%. These new measures aim to make Waitrose accessible to even more customers – 6.5 million people are currently unable to easily access its stores.

The partnership with Boots will involve selling selected goods in each other’s stores, such as Waitrose food in Boots and Boots’ healthcare and well-being ranges in Waitrose. In addition, there are currently 13 Boots pharmacies within Waitrose stores. These will be re-branded ‘Boots Pharmacy’ by the end of November.

Its franchise partnership with Welcome Break will also greatly increase, from two to nine additional stores.

Mark Price, Waitrose’s Managing Director, explained how he envisaged double-digit growth in the future: “We’ve broadened the appeal of our brand with innovations… and by being the first UK supermarket to get rid of delivery charges for online grocery shopping – and we’re seeing real sales momentum as a result.

“Working with partners of this quality, with their strong reputations and extensive representation, will mean we make a dynamic entry into convenience and fully exploit the business opportunity.”

Waitrose will also venture into the convenience store market in the New Year, with plans to open 300 more shops. Its initial four convenience stores that opened this year created more than 250 jobs.