The Body Shop has gone bankrupt and jobs are at risk across the brand’s more than 200 UK stores.
The much-loved chain currently employs 10,000 people across 3,000 stores and operates in more than 70 countries around the world – with a further 12,000 employees working in franchises.
FRP Advisory has been brought in to handle the insolvency process, just weeks after a new owner took control and promised to ‘breathe the business’. The administration currently only affects UK staff and stores.
A statement said that ‘administrators will now consider all options to find a way forward for the company and will inform creditors and employees in due course’.
The company will continue to do business both in-store and online as plans are made for the future of the much-loved high street brand.
The Body Shop has started submitting applications for administration, with job losses a risk
The Body Shop, the nearly 50-year-old cosmetics company known for its ethical hair and skin products, is struggling financially in Britain
The Body Shop was sold to L’Oréal for £675 million in 2006 by founder Dame Anita Roddick
The struggling chain – which has faced stiff competition from the likes of millennials and Gen Z-friendly bath bomb purveyors Lush and luxury brand Rituals – had also just shuttered its Avon-style home business division, The Body Shop At Home.
FRP said: ‘The Body Shop has suffered an extended period of financial challenges under previous owners, coinciding with a difficult trading environment for the wider retail sector.
‘After taking swift action over the past month, including the closure of The Body Shop At Home and the sale of our business in most of Europe and parts of Asia, focusing on the UK business is the next important step in the restructuring of The Body Shop.’
The administrators added: ‘The Body Shop continues to be 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 agile and financially stable UK business is an important step in achieving this.’
As well as threatening thousands of jobs, the news could also spell trouble for the many suppliers of Body Shop goods around the world, which have been carefully sourced by the ethically minded company for decades.
While the government doesn’t necessarily spell the end of the British brand, social media is full of responses from those who fear the worst for the beleaguered company.
A former employee recalled on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Sad news about The Body Shop. Still one of my favorite jobs ever as a student: in the late 1990s I worked weekends at Oxford St & Kings Rd.
‘Met some amazing people (including cool celebs) and fell in love with skincare and makeup.’
Another simply said: ‘The body shop is closing, this is the worst day of my life’; one Londoner wrote: ‘If the body shop in Center Court (Centre Court Shopping Center in Wimbledon) leaves I will really cry.’
The company was founded in 1976 by the late Dame Anita Roddick and became famous for its no-nonsense ethical trading ethos and refusal to test products on animals.
Popular products that helped establish the brand include bath bombs, White Musk fragrance and hemp hand cream.
There has been widespread outrage on social media in response to the news that The Body Shop is entering administration
The store grew into an environmentally friendly, socially responsible and politically outspoken chain of 1,700 stores, active in 49 markets around the world. Dame Anita is pictured above in 1984
Protesting animal testing was a key business goal for the brand, with Anita leading the resistance
Redefining beauty standards was another key goal of The Body Shop, with the aim of making women feel good about themselves
In 2012, British actress and model Lily Cole (pictured) became the brand’s first global ambassador
However, recent years have seen its popularity with shoppers in Britain decline due to the rise of rivals Lush, Holland and Barrett, and a growing online market of cheaper alternatives.
The company also fell out of favor with some buyers after it was sold by Dame Anita to L’Oréal for £675 million in 2006 – a move that surprised many who saw the sale to a major company as being at odds with the company’s values company.
Since then, The Body Shop has changed hands several times before being bought by private equity firm Aurelius for £207 million just weeks ago.
Following the purchase of the brand, Aurelius said that ‘despite the challenging retail market, there is an opportunity to reinvigorate the business so that it can benefit from positive trends in the fast-growing beauty market.’
It has since become apparent that the company has insufficient working capital and is suffering from a bad Christmas period.
In January, The Body Shop claimed that the majority of its business came from mainland Europe and Asia – and has since sold these businesses to an unnamed investor.
In January, it told Retail Week that the move “gives greater priority to the Body Shop’s strategically important markets and relationships with global master franchise partners, which it will look to build opportunities for.”
‘The Body Shop will also focus on reaching customers more effectively by strengthening digital platforms, developing new sales channels and through differentiated shopping experiences.’
MailOnline has contacted The Body Shop and Aurelius for comment.