Following the news that The Body Shop will close almost half of its UK stores, its administrators have revealed the 75 locations which will shut in a phased process over the next four to six weeks.
Some 489 employees will be made redundant as the individual stores are closed. FRP said it will support all impacted staff with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.
The closures follow FRP’s review of the retailer, finding that “the current store portfolio mix is no longer viable”. It stressed that the reduced store footprint would coincide with “a renewed focus on the brand’s products, online sales channels and wholesale strategies, bringing the brand in line with industry peers and supporting a return to financial stability”.
Tony Wright, joint administrator at FRP, said: “In taking swift action to right-size The Body Shop UK store portfolio, we have stabilised the business and are providing the best opportunity for this iconic brand to have a long-term, sustainable future.
“The UK business continues to trade in administration, and we remain fully focused on exploring all options to take it forward.”
The stores which will close are:
| Aylesbury | Camberley | Glasgow Fort | Kendal | Portsmouth |
| Banbury | Carlisle | Glasgow Silverburn | Kings Lynn | Regent Street |
| Barnstaple | Carmarthen | Glasgow Station | Leeds White Rose | Salisbury |
| Basildon | Chippenham | Grimsby | Lewisham Centre | Stafford |
| Battersea | Cirencester | Halifax | Lichfield | Stanstead Airside |
| Bedford | Croydon | Harlow | Loughborough | Stratford Upon Avon |
| Beverley | Didcot | Hastings | Luton | Swansea |
| Bexleyheath | Durham | Hempstead Valley | Macclesfield | Telford |
| Blackburn | East Kilbride | High Wycombe | Middlesbrough | Thanet |
| Blackpool | Edinburgh Gyle Centre | Huddersfield | Morpeth | Trowbridge |
| Bournemouth Commercial Rd | Edinburgh Princes Mall | Hull | Newton Abbot | Wakefield Trinity Walk |
| Bolton | Epsom | Ilford | Northampton | Walthamstow |
| Brixton | Fareham | Ipswich | Oldham | Wigan |
| Broughton Park | Farnborough | Isle of Wight | Perth | Woking |
| Bury | Glasgow Braehead | Islington | Peterborough Queensgate | Wolverhampton |
Additionally, FRP announced that 40% of head office roles would go, to around 400 full-time staff. The Body Shop’s Ambassador programme will also be scrapped as part of the restructuring.
The Body Shop collapsed into administration on 13 February 2024 due to “an extended period of financial challenges under past owners, coinciding with a difficult trading environment for the wider retail sector”.
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