Retailers are making a gesture to The Body Shop staff as half of its 198 stores are forced to close
TWO major retail chains have made a heartfelt gesture to The Body Shop staff after the retailer went bankrupt.
WHSmith, Holland and Barrett have each offered jobs to staff at the ailing retailer, which is preparing to close almost half of its stores.
It comes after the chain came under administration last week.
WHSmith said on LinkedIn: “We are keen to do what we can to support our fellow retail colleagues who now face an uncertain future.
“If you have been affected by the closure of Body Shop stores and are looking for a new role in retail, please get in touch with our team.”
Meanwhile, Holland and Barrett issued a similar message.
It said: “We deeply appreciate your dedication and commitment to The Body Shop over the years and we want to do everything we can to support you during this challenging time.”
The health food chain said employees could apply for vacancies in its retail, trade, product, technology and finance departments.
The Body Shop went bankrupt last week, putting its almost 200 stores at risk of closure.
When a company goes bankrupt, all control is transferred to an administrator whose job is to prevent the company from being liquidated – meaning it comes to an end.
If that fails, the administrator pays as much of a company's debts as possible from its assets.
Administrators may also agree to close stores or reduce the number of employees working at a company.
Full list of The Body Shop stores in the UK
Below is a full list of The Body Shop stores in the UK at risk of closure:
66 Oxford Street, London
Ashford exhaust
Aylesbury
Banbury
Barnstaple
Basildon
Basilton
Basingstoke
Bath
Battersea
Bedford
Beverley
Bexleyheath
Birmingham Arena
Birmingham New Street
Blackburn
Blackpool
Blue water
Bluewater, Greenhithe
Bolton Marketplace
Bournemouth Commercial Road
Bracknell Lexicon
Bradford Broadway
Braintree exhaust
Brent Cross Shopping Centre
Bridgend Out
Brighton
Bristol Cabot Circus
Brixton
Broughton Park
To bury
Bury St. Edmunds
Caledonia Park Outlet
Camarthen
Camberley
Cambridge
Cambridge station
Cannock exhaust
Cardiff St David's
Carlisle
Carmarthen
Castleford Outlet
Chelmsford
Cheltenham
Cheshire Oaks Outlet
Chester Foregate Street
Chesterfield
Chichester
Chippenham
Cirencester
Clarks Village outlet, Somerset
Colchester
Commercial Arcade, St Peter Port, Gurnsey
Coventry
Crawley County Shopping Center
Cribbs Causeway
Dalton Park Outlet, Seaham
Derby Intu
Didcot
Doncaster Lakeside Outlet
Dudley
Dundee
Dunfermline
Durham
Ealing
East Kilbride
East Midlands outlet
Oostbourne
Edinburgh Gyle
Edinburgh St James Quarter
Edinburgh Waverley Market
Enfield
Epsom
Exeter
Fareham
Farnborough
Fleetwood Outlet
Foyleside, Derry
Glasgow Braehead
The Glasgow Fort
Glasgow Silverburn
Glasgow St Enoch
Glasgow station
Gloucester
Grimsby
Guildford-Hoofdstraat
Gunwharf Outlet, Portsmouth
Halifax
Harlow
Harrogate
Eg
Hastings
Hatfield Outlet
Hempstead Valley
Commercial Street Hereford
High Wycombe
Horsham
Hounslow Convention Centre
Hove
Huddersfield
Hull
Ilford
Isle of Wight
Islington
Kendal
Kings Lynn
Kings Street, St Helier, Jersey
Kingston Upon Thames
Lancaster
Leamington Spa
Leeds Bridge
Leeds White Rose
Leicester High Cross
Lichfield
Lincoln Waterfront
Liverpool One
Liverpool Street station
Livingston exhaust
London bridge
Loughborough
Luton
Macclesfield
Virgo Stone
ManchesterArndale
Manchester Royal Exchange
Meadowhall-Hoofdstraat
MediaCity UK, Manchester
Middlesborough
Milton Keynes
Morpeth
Newcastle Eldon Square
Newton Abbott
Noordampton
Norwich
Nottingham Bridlesmith Gate
Oldham
Oxford Westgate
Perth
Peterborough Queensgate
Little Curry, Cambridge
Platinum Shopping Centre, Gateshead
Plymouth
Pool
Portsmouth
Preson
Preston
Reading
Regent Street, London
Romford
Rushen Lakes
Sailsbury
Sheffield
Shrewsbury
Solihull
Southampton
Zuideinde
Spalding exhaust
Saint Albans
Stafford
Stains
Standstead airside
Stockport
Stratford-upon-Avon
Sunderland
Sutton
Swansea
Swindon outlet
Talke Hanley Outlet, Stoke-on-rent
Taunton
Telford
Thurrock
Trafford Park
Trowbridge
Truro
Tunbridge Wells
Uxbridge Market Square
Victoria Square shopping centre, Belfast
Wakefield Trinity walk
Walthamstow
Warrington
Watford
Wembley outlet
Whiteley Village Shopping Centre, Fareham
Wigan
Wimbledon
Winchester
Windsor
Waking
Wolverhampton
Worchester
Worth
York Coppergate
York exhaust
FRP consultants were appointed as administrators for The Body Shop, with the retailer continuing to trade as normal and the online site remaining operational.
But on Tuesday, FRP confirmed that seven stores would close immediately, with more to follow.
It said almost half of The Body Shop's store portfolio will eventually close due to reduced footfall, and that the current branch offering was “no longer viable”.
Stores in Nuneaton, Ashford and London welcomed customers for the final time on Tuesday.
Dates have not yet been announced or given for when the remaining branches earmarked for closure will close.
Meanwhile, FRP said on Tuesday there would be a restructuring of The Body Shop's headquarters, leading to the loss of 270 jobs.
The retailer currently employs approximately 2,000 employees.
The recently launched Ambassador programme, introduced to replace the Body Shop at Home Service, has also been discontinued.
FRP Advisory said in a statement: “After years of unprofitability and following a full review of The Body Shop's UK operations, the joint administrators have concluded that the current store portfolio mix is no longer viable.
“This swift action will help revitalize The Body Shop's iconic brand and provide it with the best platform to achieve its ambition: to be a modern, dynamic beauty brand capable of returning to profitability and compete for the long term.”
It came as The Body Shop's German arm went into administration and after the cosmetics group sold its business in mainland Europe and parts of Asia.
Meanwhile, The Body Shop was bought by private equity firm Aurelius in November last year in a deal worth £207 million.
At the time, the company said it wanted to shift its focus from the UK market to South America.
The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon in Brighton.
It wanted to differentiate itself from other beauty retailers by focusing on ethically sourced and natural-based ingredients.
Who was Body Shop founder Anita Roddick?
Dame Anita Roddick, born 23 October 1942, was a British businesswoman, human rights campaigner and environmentalist.
Throughout her life, Anita was best known as the founder of the Body Shop, a cosmetics company that produces and sells natural beauty products.
Anita opened her first body shop in Brighton in 1976.
The brand started as a small store that provided high-quality skin care products in refilled bottles, in the belief that the company could have a positive impact.
Following this, the Body Shop grew into a global retail company serving more than 30 million customers worldwide.
An avid campaigner, Anita has been involved in activism for environmental and social issues, such as involvement with Greenpeace and The Big Issue.
In addition, the late entrepreneur founded Children on the Edge in 1990, a charity organization that helps underprivileged children in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
In 2007, Anita, who also worked with her husband Gordan, sold the company to L'Oréal but still played an active role in the company.
French firm L'Oreal paid £625 million for the company, netting Anita and her husband Gordon more than £100 million for their 18 percent stake in the company.
In September 2007, Dame Anita Roddick died aged 64 from a cerebral haemorrhage after being admitted to St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, West Sussex.
Her husband Gordon and her two daughters, Sam and Justine, were by her side.
Prior to her death, Anita had revealed that she had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2004.
The late founder's illness was first discovered during a routine blood test for a life insurance policy.
She had been living with the disease for more than 30 years before it was discovered – by which time she was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.
In 2008, a year after her death, Anita's will revealed that she had given away all her £51 million to charity and the rest to taxes.
The brand joined the L'Oréal group in 2006, before being bought by Natura and Co in 2017.
The Sun has conducted a deep investigation into what went wrong at the beloved chain.
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