The Body Shop is closing seven of its stores today (February 20), with four shops in London set to shut immediately.
The retailer has around 198 outlets in the UK but half are set to close after it fell into administration last week.
It will also cut around 270 head office jobs as part of a heavy restructuring, leaving it with around 400 workers at its London headquarters.
The group also employs around 1,500 workers across its UK shops, with hundreds of these workers expected to face redundancy as a result of the proposed closures.
Hello, you may have heard in the news that The Body Shop in the UK is under administration. We wanted you to know we’re open as usual and all our customers can continue to shop for their favourite products. And...thank you for the huge love we’ve been hearing, it means a lot 💚 pic.twitter.com/jnSVtmRMEA
— The Body Shop UK (@TheBodyShopUK) February 14, 2024
The Body Shop to shut 4 London stores immediately
Administrators for the business said seven of its shops will shut their doors for good on Tuesday.
They confirmed the closure of its stores at Surrey Quays, Oxford Street, Canary Wharf and Cheapside in London.
Nuneaton in Warwickshire, Ashford town centre in Kent and Queens Road Bristol will also shut.
The group’s other stores will continue to trade until further updates from insolvency experts overseeing the process.
Administrators from FRP Advisory said in a statement: “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.
“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.”
Recommended reading:
- The Body Shop officially enters administration with hundreds of stores at risk
- This is who founded The Body Shop more than 40 years ago but who owns it now?
- Everything to know on what it means for a company to go into administration
The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon as one of the first companies to promote so-called ethical consumerism, focusing on ethically produced cosmetics and skincare products.
The announcement comes only weeks after new owners, European private equity firm Aurelius, took control of the business.
Aurelius, which specialises in buying and turning around troubled firms, secured a £207 million deal in November to buy The Body Shop from Brazilian cosmetics giant Natura & Co.
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