Body butter buffs, hemp oil hounds and cruelty-free devotees – you might want to sit down for this one. After underwhelming sales over January and Christmas, it’s now been confirmed that The Body Shop has called in administrators to save it from going completely bust.
We know, we know – where are you going to get your animal-testing-free self-care delicacies now? Take some deep breaths: here’s everything we know about what’s going on at the cosmetics, skincare and perfume chain.
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Which Body Shop stores are closing and when?
While eventually around 100 Body Shops across the country are expected to close, only seven branches have closed so far. They all closed on February 20 – here’s the full list of those closures.
- Surrey Quays (London)
- Oxford Street Bond Street (London)
- Canary Wharf (London)
- Cheapside (London)
- Nuneaton (Warwickshire)
- Ashford Town Centre (Kent)
- Bristol Queens Road (Bristol)
On top of those, it’s now been confirmed that 75 more Body Shops will close over the next four to six weeks. Those locations have now been confirmed – these are the shops that will be closing.
- Aylesbury
- Banbury
- Barnstaple
- Basildon
- Battersea
- Bedford
- Beverley
- Bexleyheath
- Blackburn
- Blackpool
- Bournemouth Commercial Road
- Bolton
- Brixton
- Broughton Park
- Bury
- Camberley
- Carlisle
- Carmarthen
- Chippenham
- Cirencester
- Croydon
- Didcot
- Durham
- East Kilbride
- Edinburgh Gyle Centre
- Edinburgh Princes Mall
- Epsom
- Fareham
- Farnborough
- Glasgow Braehead
- Glasgow Fort
- Glasgow Silverburn
- Glasgow Station
- Grimsby
- Halifax
- Harlow
- Hastings
- Hempstead Valley
- High Wycombe
- Huddersfield
- Hull
- Ilford
- Ipswich
- Isle of Wight
- Islington
- Kendal
- Kings Lynn
- Leeds White Rose
- Lewisham Centre
- Lichfield
- Loughborough
- Luton
- Macclesfield
- Middlesbrough
- Morpeth
- Newton Abbot
- Northampton
- Oldham
- Perth
- Peterborough Queensgate
- Portsmouth
- Regent Street
- Salisbury
- Stafford
- Stanstead Airside
- Stratford Upon Avon
- Swansea
- Telford
- Thanet
- Trowbridge
- Wakefield Trinity Walk
- Walthamstow
- Wigan
- Woking
- Wolverhampton
How many jobs could be lost?
Over the next four weeks, the chain has announced that 489 jobs will be lost. According to Sky News, around 40 percent of staff at the head office will also be cut, with numbers falling to 400 full-time employees.
Sky reports that in 2022 The Body Shop had 927 administrative staff and 1,641 store workers.
Will the chain close down?
It’s apparently very unlikely that The Body Shop will entirely vanish from our high streets. FRP has also said that plenty of shops will remain open during the administration process.
Instead, The Body Shop will focus on reducing costs and building up its online presence, hoping to better compete with brands like Lush that are popular with younger shoppers.
Why has the Body Shop gone into administration?
The skincare and cosmetics chain was only taken over by new ownership six weeks before Christmas, but it still struggled to do decent numbers. On top of that, it apparently didn’t have enough working capital to carry on trading in its current form.
Enter: the administrators. Two weeks ago it was confirmed that The Body Shop had appointed administrators at FRP Advisory to oversee an insolvency process, while yesterday (February 29), the brand has confirmed that 75 locations will close – and revealed the exact locations set to shut.
These closures were expected, as FRP will likely need to sell off The Body Shop’s assets to pay off the brand’s debts. With around 200 stores across the UK, thousands of jobs are at risk.
Who owns The Body Shop?
The chain has been owned by Aurelius, a private equity group and investment company, since November 2023. It was founded way back in 1976 by Dame Anita Roddick, though she sold the brand in 2006.
Could Next rescue The Body Shop?
In recent days there have been rumours that fashion and home retailer Next is in talks with FRP to potentially acquire some of The Body Shop’s assets. There aren’t many details on which exact parts of The Body Shop might be bought, though Sky has reported that Next would be unlikely tor retain any Body Shop stores.
Next has previously acquired brands like Joules, Fat Face, Cath Kidston and JoJo Maman Bebe.
Which Body Shops are staying open?
The chain has revealed that 116 of its shops will stay open. Here’s the full list of Body Shops that will remain trading.
- Aberdeen
- Ashford Outlet
- Basingstoke
- Bath
- Belfast Victoria Square
- Birmingham New Street
- Birmingham Bullring
- Bluewater
- Bracknell Lexicon
- Bradford Broadway
- Braintree Outlet
- Brent Cross
- Bridgend Outlet
- Brighton
- Bristol Cabot Circus
- Broadgate
- Bromley
- Bury St Edmonds
- Cannock Outlet
- Cardiff St Davids
- Castleford Outlet
- Canterbury Whitefriars
- Chelmsford
- Cheltenham
- Chesire Oaks Outlet
- Chester Foregate Street
- Chesterfield
- Chichester
- Clarks Village Outlet
- Colchester
- Coventry
- Crawley County Mall
- Cribbs Causeway
- Dalton Park Outlet
- Derby Intu
- Doncaster Lakeside Outlet
- Dudley
- Dundee
- Dunfermline
- Ealing
- East Midlands Outlet
- Eastbourne
- Edinburgh St James
- Enfield
- Fleetwood Outlet
- Foyleside
- Glasgow St. Enoch
- Gloucester
- Gretna Outlet
- Guildford High Street
- Gunwharf Outlet
- Harrogate
- Harrow
- Hatfield
- Hereford Commercial Street
- Hounslow Treaty Centre
- Icon at O2 Outlet
- Inverness
- Kingston-Upon-Thames
- Lancaster
- Leamington Spa
- Leeds Briggate
- Leicester New Shires
- Lincoln Waterside
- Liverpool One
- Livingston Outlet
- Llandudno
- London Bridge
- Lowry Outlet
- Maidstone
- Manchester Arndale Centre
- Manchester Royal Exchange
- Meadowhall High Street
- Metro Centre Platinum Mall
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle Eldon Square
- Nottingham Bridlesmith Gate
- Oxford Street Soho
- Oxford Westgate
- Poole
- Preston
- Reading
- Romford
- Rushden Lakes
- Shrewsbury
- Skipton
- Solihull
- Southampton West Quay
- Southend
- Spalding
- St. Albans
- Staines
- Stockport
- Stratford City Westfield
- Sunderland
- Sutton
- Swindon Outlet
- Talke Hanley Outlet
- Taunton
- Thurrock
- Trafford Park
- Truro
- Tunbridge Wells Royal Victoria Place
- Uxbridge Market Square
- Warrington
- Watford
- Wembley Outlet
- White City Westfield
- Whiteley Village
- Wimbledon
- Winchester
- Windsor
- Worcester
- Worthing
- York Coppergate Walk
- York Depot
High street shutdowns with Time Out
The Body Shop is only the latest in a long line of stores being forced to reduce their high street presence. We at Time Out have all the details on the biggest high street closures with our complete guide here.
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