Nearly 500 people working in stores of the British cosmetics chain The Body Shop will be made redundant in the United Kingdom, announced the administrators of the failed company. Some 75 stores will close within 6 weeks in the country, in addition to 7 closures already announced last week.

FRP Advisory, responsible for the restructuring, had already announced the elimination of 270 positions at the London headquarters, tallying the total expected redundancies in the UK between 750 and 800. The company employed around 7,000 people worldwide before filing for bankruptcy, including 2,200 in the United Kingdom.

"After years of unprofitability and following a full evaluation of The Body Shop’s UK business, ... administrators have concluded that the current store portfolio mix is no longer viable," said FRP in a statement last week. It added that "a reduced store footprint, will coincide with a renewed focus on the brand’s products, online sales channels and wholesale strategies,... supporting a return to financial stability.”

In total, 116 stores will remain open out of the 198 that the chain had before filing for bankruptcy in the United Kingdom [1].

“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 the business forward,” stated Tony Wright of FRP Advisory.

These job cuts and the restructuring plan led by FRP only concern the United Kingdom and not the rest of the brand’s global network. But since its takeover by Aurelius, several loss-making subsidiaries in Europe and Asia have been sold, many of which have also been declared bankrupt.

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 in Brighton (south of England) by British entrepreneur Anita Roddick. L’Oréal bought the brand in 2006 for around 940 million euros, when it was at the height of its fame, before selling it in 2017 to the Brazilian group Natura. Highly in debt after having also acquired Avon in 2019 and hit hard by the rise in interest rates, Natura sold The Body Shop at the end of 2023 for a fifth of the price paid to L’Oréal.