Holland & Barrett bets on high street with public health pivot

Holland & Barrett is mounting a renewed focus on its high street presence, offering free health drop-ins amid growing online misinformation and an “under pressure” NHS.

The health foods retailer has faced huge losses in recent years and its new chief executive is battling to raise the profile of its high street stores.

Anthony Houghton, who was appointed Holland & Barrett’s chief executive in October, said his firm has undergone a major restructure as it pivots towards offering free consultations for a generation of people he believes are increasingly worried about their health.

The health retailer’s pre-tax loss grew in the year to September last year, widening from £72m to £81m, despite growing turnover by 11 per cent to £719m. 

The firm, owned by investment company LetterOne, last reported a pre-tax profit in September 2021.

Houghton told City AM: “We’ve been on quite a big investment program. It’s a 155-year-old business and in many parts of the business it was 155 years [old], and we’ve brought it into the 21st century.”

He continued: “There’s many, many, many people that walk past our store or click past our site every day and they’ve heard of Holland & Barrett, but they don’t really know what we do.

“One of the things that we noticed post-Covid is more and more people are getting focused on preventative care.”

Holland & Barrett: NHS ‘under pressure’

Holland & Barrett hopes to support at least 10m people every year by 2030, through its community programmes, charity partnerships and its in-store and digital services.

The retailer is offering 300,000 free in-store wellness check-ins with its staff.

Alongside this new campaign, the retailer has launched its “state of the nation’s health” report which found that 78 per cent of Brits only go to see a doctor when “absolutely necessary”.

Houghton said his company is aiming to attract consumers who do not routinely use the NHS or prioritise their health. 

“You can see that we’ve got a fabulous NHS system, but it’s under pressure and people are more and more confused by advice or can’t get access to advice in a language that they understand,” he said. 

Retailer to launch weight-loss range

Houghton said Holland & Barrett is also moving to capitalise on the growing popularity of weight-loss jabs – known as GLP-1s – in the UK. 

As many as 1.6m adults in the UK used weight-loss drugs in the past year, according to University College London researchers, and leading jab Wegovy is soon to be offered on the NHS.

Houghton said Holland & Barrett will soon launch a new range of products specifically aimed at users of weight-loss jabs.

He said: “Rather than a customer getting the drug and not fully understanding the impact of the drug on their weight, it’s [about] where they can go and get that advice and therefore get the supplements to support that weight loss, which is really, really important.”

The retailer was established in 1870 and operates more than 800 stores in the UK.