The Body Shop is set to close another 75 stores within WEEKS after going into administration
THE Body Shop will close a further 75 stores after going into administration.
The cosmetics, skin care and perfume chain will close its doors at dozens of locations in the next four to six weeks.
Nearly 500 employees will lose their jobs after the 75 stores close their doors for good, administrators FRP Advisory said.
However, they confirmed that 116 branches in the UK will remain open for the time being.
It comes after seven Body Shop stores have already closed their doors for good, including in London, Bristol and Warwickshire.
This is the full list of locations closing in a few weeks:
- Aylesbury
- Banbury
- Barnstaple
- Basildon
- Battersea
- Bedford
- Beverley
- Bexleyheath
- Blackburn
- Blackpool
- Bournemouth Commercial Rd
- Bolton
- Brixton
- Broughton Park
- To bury
- Camberley
- Carlisle
- Carmarthen
- Chippenham
- Cirencester
- Croydon
- Didcot
- Durham
- East Kilbride
- Edinburgh Gyle Centre
- Edinburgh Princes Shopping Centre
- Epsom
- Fareham
- Farnborough
- Glasgow Braehead
- The Glasgow Fort
- Glasgow Silverbur
- 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
- Middelsbrough
- Morpeth
- Newton Abbot
- Noordampton
- Oldham
- Perth
- Peterborough Queensgate
- Portsmouth
- Regentstraat
- Salisbury
- Stafford
- Stanstead Airside
- Stratford-upon-Avon
- Swansea
- Telford
- Thanet
- Trowbridge
- Wakefield Trinity walk
- Walthamstow
- Wigan
- Waking
- Wolverhampton
FRP Advisory said the 75 branches would close in a “phased” approach and close due to reduced footfall.
Exact dates for when the stores will close have not been announced.
FRP also said the retailer would focus more on online sales and wholesale.
Tony Wright, co-director, said the closures would “stabilize” the company and ensure it has a “long-term sustainable future”.
He added: “British business continues to deal with administration, and we remain fully focused on exploring all options to take the business forward.”
One hundred and sixteen Body Shop stores will remain open for the time being, including in locations such as Aberdeen, Coventry, Manchester and London.
The full list is:
- Aberdeen
- Ashford exhaust
- Basingstoke
- Bath
- Victoria Square in Belfast
- Birmingham New St.
- Birmingham Arena
- Blue water
- Bracknell Lexicon
- Bradford Broadway
- Braintree exhaust
- Brent Cross
- Bridgend exhaust
- Brighton
- Bristol Cabot Circus
- Broadgate
- Bromley
- Bury St. Edmonds
- Cannock exhaust
- Cardiff St David’s
- Castleford Outlet
- Canterbury Whitefriars
- Chelmsford
- Cheltenham
- Chesire Oaks Outlet
- Chester Foregate Street
- Chesterfield
- Chichester
- Clarks Village outlet
- Colchester
- Coventry
- Crawley County Shopping Center
- Cribbs Causeway
- Dalton Park Outlet
- Derby Intu
- Doncaster Lakeside Outlet
- Dudley
- Dundee
- Dunfermline
- Ealing
- East Midlands outlet
- Oostbourne
- Edinburgh St James
- Enfield
- Fleetwood Outlet
- Foyle side
- Glasgow St Enoch
- Gloucester
- Gretna exhaust
- Guildford-Hoofdstraat
- Gunwharf exhaust
- Harrogate
- Eg
- Hatveld
- Hereford Commercial St
- Hounslow Convention Centre
- Icon at O2 Outlet
- Inverness
- Kingston Upon Thames
- Lancaster
- Leamington Spa
- Leeds Bridge
- Leicester New Shires
- Lincoln Waterfront
- Liverpool One
- Livingston exhaust
- Llandudno
- London bridge
- Lowry exhaust
- Virgo Stone
- Manchester Arndale Centre
- Manchester Royal ex
- Meadowhall High St
- Metro Center Platinum Mall
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle Eldon Square
- Nottingham Bridlesmith Gate
- Oxford Street Soho
- Oxford Westgate
- Pool
- Preston
- Reading
- Romford
- Rushden Lakes
- Shrewsbury
- Skipton
- Solihull
- Southampton Westkade
- Zuideinde
- Spalding
- St Albans
- Stains
- 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 Town Westfield
- Whiteley village
- Wimbledon
- Winchester
- Windsor
- Worchester
- Worth
- York Coppergate Walk
- York Depot
The latest announcement comes after The Body Shop went into administration on February 13, putting its almost 198 branches at risk of closure.
When a company goes bankrupt, all control is transferred to an appointed administrator, whose job is to prevent the company from being wound up.
If that fails, the administrator pays as much of a company’s debts as possible from its assets.
At the time, FRP Advisory said the move to place the retailer into administration would provide the “stability, flexibility and security” to best secure its future.
Last week, FRP said it would close seven stores with immediate effect, with more to follow.
Administrators also said The Body Shop’s headquarters would undergo a restructuring, resulting in the loss of 270 jobs.
The Body Shop Ambassador scheme, replacing the Avon-style The Body Shop at Home service, was also axed after launching on just January 12.
The Sun first revealed that The Body Shop at Home service was axed in January but closed for good on February 23, affecting thousands of consultants.
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.
In November last year, The Body Shop was bought by private equity firm Aurelius 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.
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 brain 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 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.
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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