The Body Shop has announced the closure of seven of its stores in the UK today just days after unveiling plans to appoint administrators.
The High Street chain will close four London stores in Surrey Quays, Oxford Street Bond Street, Canary Wharf and Cheapside as well as shops in Nuneaton in Warwickshire, Ashford Town Centre in Kent and Queens Road in Bristol.
The closures are part of the franchise’s ‘restructuring plan’ to ‘secure’ the future of the business, with additional closures expected to follow.
More than half of The Body Shop’s 198 UK stores will remain open after the ‘restructuring’ process, while the number of staff in its head office is expected to reduce by around 40% to 400 full time employees.
The business announced it entered administration last week and said it will continue to trade both in-store and online while plans are made for the future of the beloved high street brand.
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Body Shop has announced the closure of seven of its stores in the UK today
The Body Shop at Surrey Quays was closed today with a notice left on the shutters
The seven Body Shop stores that will close today. They include four London stores in Surrey Quays, Oxford Street Bond Street, Canary Wharf and Cheapside as well as shops in Nuneaton in Warwickshire, Ashford Town Centre in Kent and Queens Road in Bristol
The Body Shop said in a statement today: ‘After years of unprofitability and following a full evaluation of The Body Shop’s UK business, the Joint Administrators have concluded that the current store portfolio mix is no longer viable.
‘As an immediate step, seven stores will close today, with additional closures to follow. It is expected that at the conclusion of the restructuring, more than half of The Body Shop’s 198 UK stores will remain open.
‘Following the earlier sale of loss-making businesses in much of mainland Europe and parts of Asia, and to support a simplified business, The Body Shop will also restructure roles in its Head Office to align with this forward-looking strategy and more nimble, financially viable model.
‘The Head Office headcount is expected to reduce by approximately 40%, to a future headcount of over 400 full time employees. The Joint Administrators have also decided The Body Shop Ambassador programme will close.
‘This swift action will help re-energise The Body Shop’s iconic brand and provide it with the best platform to achieve its ambition to be a modern, dynamic beauty brand that is able to return to profitability and compete for the long term.’
The Body Shop entered administration last week with jobs at risk across the brand’s 200-plus UK stores.
The beloved chain currently employs 10,000 people across 3,000 stores it operates in more than 70 countries around the world – with a further 12,000 staff working in franchises.
The Body Shop store on Cheapside, central London, that has closed today
A sign in the window of The Body Shop store on Cheapside that has closed today
The Body Shop at Surrey Quays was closed today with a notice left on the shutters
The letter apologised to customers and asked if they could continue to support The Body Shop ‘online or at your nearest store’
The Body Shop store on Oxford Street, central London, that has closed today
A sign on the shutters at The Body Shop store on Oxford Street reads: ‘Sadly our store is now closed. Thanks you for all your love – it’s meant a lot’
Ian Knight and daughter Isla, 15, pictured outside the Bournemouth branch of The Body Shop last week. Ian said it was a ‘real shame’ the company had entered administration
Nigel Scott, 55, (pictured) who works in insurance, said he had been shopping at the Body Shop for 30 years
FRP Advisory has been brought in to handle the insolvency process just weeks after a new owner took control having vowed to ‘re-energise the business’.
The administration currently only affects UK staff and stores.
In a statement last week it said ‘administrators will now consider all options to find a way forward for the business and will update creditors and employees in due course’.
The business will continue to trade both in-store and online while plans are made for the future of the beloved high street brand.
Created in 1976, founder Dame Anita Roddick went from selling products in urine sample bottles to save money to becoming a multi-millionaire with a cosmetic empire in a matter of years.
The brand, known for its humanitarian focus, was the high street go-to for beauty products long before celebrity perfume ranges and beauty websites took over.
Ian Knight, 55, a business owner out shopping with his two daughters, reacted to the brand’s announcement that it would be entering administration
He said: ‘It is a real shame. Most of the high street is suffering in terms of footfall.
‘The cost of living crisis is biting hard and people are being more cautious about how they spend their money.
‘It just feels like Amazon is getting stronger and stronger and that makes it so hard for the likes of The Body Shop.’
The Body Shop was sold to L’Oreal for £675million by founder Dame Anita Roddick in 2006
Anita launched The Body Shop in 1976 to provide for her two children. She is pictured outside one of her first stores in October 1985
It is also famed for its signature White Musk eau de toilette (left) – which has survived several rebrands and continues to be a top seller (right)
The Body Shop, the near 50-year-old cosmetics company renowned for its ethical hair and skin products, is struggling financially in the UK
The Body Shop fans have called for a reintroduction of their retro products, including perfume oil (pictured)
Teacher Lily Taylor, 31, said she had been going to the Body Shop since she was a child, while her mother did Body Shop parties.
They have products which are compatible with her allergies and she was not sure where to shop now.
She said: ‘I always buy their products so I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I have a lot of allergies so I find their stuff is better for my skin.
‘I think a lot of shops are going through the same thing but it is still a shock to see them in administration.
‘My mother used to do Body Shop parties so I don’t want to have to break the news to her. Everyone going online is having a huge impact on the high street.’
Nigel Scott, 55, who works in insurance, said he had been shopping at the Body Shop for 30 years and his son and daughter gave him an extra long shopping list when they heard about its uncertain future.
He said: ‘It’s sad. I’ve been coming here for 30 years. They have been through many hands and maybe the ethical stuff they stood for lost its shine.’
Following the announcement last week, social media was also full of reaction from those who feared the worst for the beleaguered firm.
One former worker recalled on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Sad news about The Body Shop. Still one of my fave jobs ever when I was a student, worked weekends Oxford St & Kings Rd in late 90s.
‘Met some amazing people (cool celebs too) & fell in love with skincare & makeup.’
One Londoner wrote: ‘If the body shop in centre court (Centre Court Shopping Centre in Wimbledon) goes I will actually cry.’
Anita Roddick: High Street pioneer who built £51m fortune then gave it all away before she died
Founder Dame Anita Roddick pictured in 1984
Founded in 1976, The Body Shop was one of the first cosmetics companies to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals and to promote fair trade with developing countries.
This was in large part to its founder, Dame Anita Roddick, who was a human rights activist and environmental campaigner.
She was an avid campaigner for environmental and social issues, including involvement with Greenpeace and The Big Issue.
In 1990, she founded a charity called Children on the Edge, which helped disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
She founded The Body shop to earn an income for her and her two daughters while her husband was away in South America. Upon her husband’s return, he joined the business.
By 2004, The Body Shop has 1980 stores, more than 77 million customers and was voted the second most-trusted brand in the UK – ad the 28th top brand in the world.
But that same year, Roddick was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis C. She didn’t reveal this until 2007.
She was an avid campaigner for environmental and social issues, including involvement with Greenpeace and The Big Issue
She announced it by saying: ‘I have hepatitis C. It’s a bit of a bummer, but you groan and move on.’
Subsequently she promoted the work of the Hepatitis C Trust and raised awareness for the disease.
Roddick was said to believe she became infected with Hepatitis following a blood transfusion after the birth of her younger daughter. This was twenty years before the UK screened blood donors for the disease.
She tragically died of an acute brain haemorrhage in September 2007. Earlier, she had sworn to leave her fortune to charities rather than her families and friends – a promise she remained true to.
The businesswoman was always adamant she had no intention of ‘dying rich’ and her Will revealed she had given away her entire £15million fortune to charity before she died.
When she died, the gross value of her estate was £665,747 which was swallowed up by inheritance tax, leaving her net worth at nil.
She had previously described leaving money to your family as ‘obscene’ and cut her daughters Sam and Justine out of her will in 2005, which Sam called a ‘relief’.
