The Body Shop has entered administration 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.
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, 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.
The Body Shop has begun the process of filing for administration with job losses a risk
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 was sold to L’Oreal for £675million by founder Dame Anita Roddick in 2006
The Body Shop was renowned for its ethically sourced beauty products, from shower gels and cleansing butters through to charcoal face masks
The troubled chain – which has faced stiff competition from the likes of millennial and Gen Z-friendly bath bomb purveyors Lush and luxury brand Rituals – had also just shut down its Avon-style home business division, The Body Shop At Home.
FRP said: ‘The Body Shop has faced an extended period of financial challenges under past owners, coinciding with a difficult trading environment for the wider retail sector.
‘Having taken swift action in the last month, including closing down The Body Shop At Home and selling its business across most of Europe and in parts of Asia, focusing on the UK business is the next important step in The Body Shop’s restructuring.’
The administrators added: ‘The Body Shop remains guided by its ambition to be a modern, dynamic beauty brand, relevant to customers and able to compete for the long term.
‘Creating a more nimble and financially stable UK business is an important step in achieving this.’
As well as threatening thousands of jobs, the news could spell trouble for the many suppliers of Body Shop goods across the globe, who have been sourced carefully by the ethically minded firm over decades.
While administration does not necessarily spell the end of the British brand, social media is full of reaction from those who fear 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.’
Another simply said: ‘The body shop is shutting down this is the worst day of my life’; one Londoner wrote: ‘If the body shop in centre court (Centre Court Shopping Centre in Wimbledon) goes I will actually cry.’
Set up in 1976 by the late Dame Anita Roddick, the company became famous for it’s no-nonsense ethical trading ethos and refusal to test products on animals.
Popular products which helped establish the brand’s name included bath bombs, White Musk fragrance and hemp hand cream.
However in recent years it has seen its popularity in the UK with shoppers diminish due to the rise of rivals Lush and Holland and Barrett, and a growing online market of cheaper alternatives.
The firm also fell out of favour with some buyers after being sold to L’Oreal for £675million by Dame Anita in 2006 – a move that stunned many who saw the sale to a large corporation as running counter to the company’s values.
Since then The Body Shop has changed hands several times, before being bought by private equity firm Aurelius just weeks ago for £207million.
After purchasing the brand, Aurelius said that ‘despite the challenging retail market there is an opportunity to re-energise the business to enable it to take advantage of positive trends in the high-growth beauty market.’
It has since emerged that the business has insufficient working capital and suffered from a poor Christmas period of trading.
In January, the Body Shop claimed that most of its business stemmed from mainland Europe and Asia – and has since sold those businesses to an unnamed investor.
It told Retail Week in January that the move ‘further prioritises the Body Shop’s strategically important markets and global head franchise partner relationships, which it will look for opportunities to build.
‘The Body Shop will also focus on more effectively reaching customers by strengthening digital platforms, developing new sales channels, and via differentiated retail experiences.’
has approached The Body Shop and Aurelius for comment.