TWO major high street brands have issued a heartfelt gesture to The Body Shop workers after the retailer collapsed into administration.
WHSmith and Holland and Barrett have both offered roles to staff at the ailing retailer as it prepares to shut almost half its stores.
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It comes after the chain fell into administration last week.
Posting on LinkedIn, WHSmith said: “We’re keen to do what we can to support our fellow retail colleagues who are now facing an uncertain future.
“If you have been impacted by the closure of Body Shop stores and are looking for a new role in retail please get in touch with our team.”
Meanwhile, Holland and Barrett issued a similar message.
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It said: “We deeply appreciate your dedication and commitment to The Body Shop over the years and we want to do everything we can to support you during this challenging time.”
The health food chain said workers could apply for vacancies across its retail, commerce, product, tech and finance departments.
The Body Shop plunged into administration last week, putting its almost 200 stores at risk of closure.
When a company goes into administration, all control is passed to an administrator whose job it is to stop the company being liquidated – meaning it comes to an end.
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If it can’t, the administrator pays as much of a company’s debts as possible from its assets.
Administrators may also agree to close shops or slash the number of employees working at a company.
Full list of The Body Shop stores in the UK
Below is a full list of The Body Shop stores in the UK at risk of closure:
66 Oxford Street, London
Ashford Outlet
Aylesbury
Banbury
Barnstaple
Basildon
Basilton
Basingstoke
Bath
Battersea
Bedford
Beverley
Bexleyheath
Birmingham Bullring
Birmingham New Street
Blackburn
Blackpool
Bluewater
Bluewater, Greenhithe
Bolton Market Place
Bournemouth Commercial Road
Bracknell Lexicon
Bradford Broadway
Braintree Outlet
Brent Cross Shopping Centre
Bridgend Outet
Brighton
Bristol Cabot Circus
Brixton
Broughton Park
Bury
Bury St Edmunds
Caledonia Park Outlet
Camarthen
Camberley
Cambridge
Cambridge Station
Cannock Outlet
Cardiff St Davids
Carlisle
Carmarthen
Castleford Outlet
Chelmsford
Cheltenham
Cheshire Oaks Outlet
Chester Foregate Street
Chesterfield
Chichester
Chippenham
Cirencester
Clarks Village Outlet, Somerset
Colchester
Commercial Arcade, St Peter Port, Gurnsey
Coventry
Crawley County Mall
Cribbs Causeway
Dalton Park Outlet, Seaham
Derby Intu
Didcot
Doncaster Lakeside Outlet
Dudley
Dundee
Dunfermline
Durham
Ealing
East Kilbride
East Midlands Outlet
Eastbourne
Edinburgh Gyle
Edinburgh St James Quarter
Edinburgh Waverley Market
Enfield
Epsom
Exeter
Fareham
Farnborough
Fleetwood Outlet
Foyleside, Derry
Glasgow Braehead
Glasgow Fort
Glasgow Silverburn
Glasgow St Enoch
Glasgow Station
Gloucester
Grimsby
Guildford High Street
Gunwharf Outlet, Portsmouth
Halifax
Harlow
Harrogate
Harrow
Hastings
Hatfield Outlet
Hempstead Valley
Hereford Commercial Street
High Wycombe
Horsham
Hounslow Treaty Centre
Hove
Huddersfield
Hull
Ilford
Isle of Wight
Islington
Kendal
Kings Lynn
Kings Street, St Helier, Jersey
Kingston-Upon-Thames
Lancaster
Leamington Spa
Leeds Briggate
Leeds White Rose
Leicester High Cross
Lichfield
Lincoln Waterside
Liverpool One
Liverpool Street Station
Livingston Outlet
London Bridge
Loughborough
Luton
Macclesfield
Maidstone
Manchester Arndale
Manchester Royal Exchange
Meadowhall High Street
MediaCity UK, Manchester
Middlesborough
Milton Keynes
Morpeth
Newcastle Eldon Square
Newton Abbott
Northampton
Norwich
Nottingham Bridlesmith Gate
Oldham
Oxford Westgate
Perth
Peterborough Queensgate
Petty Curry, Cambridge
Platinum Mall, Gateshead
Plymouth
Poole
Portsmouth
Preson
Preston
Reading
Regent Street, London
Romford
Rushen Lakes
Sailsbury
Sheffield
Shrewsbury
Solihull
Southampton
Southend
Spalding Outlet
St Albans
Stafford
Staines
Standstead Airside
Stockport
Stratford Upon Avon
Sunderland
Sutton
Swansea
Swindon Outlet
Talke Hanley Outlet, Stoke-on-rent
Taunton
Telford
Thurrock
Trafford Park
Trowbridge
Truro
Tunbridge Wells
Uxbridge Market Square
Victoria Square Shopping Centre, Belfast
Wakefield Trinity Walk
Walthamstow
Warrington
Watford
Wembley Outlet
Whiteley Village Shopping Centre, Fareham
Wigan
Wimbledon
Winchester
Windsor
Woking
Wolverhampton
Worcester
Worthing
York Coppergate
York Outlet
FRP Advisors were appointed administrators for The Body Shop with the retailer continuing to trade as normal as shops and the online site remained operational.
But on Tuesday, FRP confirmed seven stores would be closing immediately with more to follow.
It said almost half of The Body Shop’s store portfolio will eventually shut due to reduced footfall, adding the current range of branches was “no longer viable”.
Stores in Nuneaton, Ashford and London all welcomed in customers for the final time on Tuesday.
Dates have not yet been revealed or dates given for when the remaining branches earmarked for closure will shut.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, FRP said there would be a restructuring of The Body Shop’s head office, leading to the loss of 270 jobs.
The retailer currently employs around 2,000 members of staff.
The newly-launched Ambassador Programme, brought in to replace the Body Shop at Home Service, has also been wound down.
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.”
It came as The Body Shop’s German arm fell into administration and after the cosmetics group sold off its business arms in mainland Europe and parts of Asia.
Meanwhile, in November last year The Body Shop was bought out by private equity firm Aurelius in a deal worth £207million.
At the time the firm said it was looking to shift its focus away from the UK market and towards South America.
The Body Shop was founded by Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon in Brighton in 1976.
It aimed to set itself apart from other beauty retailers by focusing on ethically sourced and naturally-based ingredients.
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Who was Body Shop founder Anita Roddick?
Dame Anita Roddick, born October 23, 1942, was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner.
Throughout her lifetime, Anita was best known as the founder of the Body Shop – a cosmetics company producing and retailing natural beauty products.
Anita opened her first Body Shop in Brighton back in 1976.
The brand first started as a small shop providing quality skincare products in refilled bottles, with the belief that the business could be a force for good.
Following this, the Body Shop went on to become a global retail business serving over 30 million customers worldwide.
As a keen campaigner, Anita was involved in activism for environmental and social issues, such as involvement with Greenpeace and The Big Issue.
In addition to this, in 1990, the late entrepreneur founded Children on the Edge – a charitable organisation which helps disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
In 2007 Anita, who also worked alongside her husband Gordan, sold the company to L’Oréal, but still played an active role in the business.
French firm L’Oreal paid £625million for the company, providing Anita and her husband Gordon with more than £100million for their 18 per cent share in the business.
In September 2007, Dame Anita Roddick passed away at 64 from a brain haemorrhage after being admitted to St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester, West Sussex.
Her husband Gordon, and her two daughters, Sam and Justine, were at her side.
Prior to her passing, Anita had revealed that she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2004.
The late founder’s illness was first discovered during a routine blood test for a life insurance policy.
She had lived with the illness for more than 30 years before it was discovered – by which time she was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.
In 2008, a year after her passing, Anita’s will revealed that she had given away all of her £51million to charity and the rest to tax.
The brand joined the L’Oreal group in 2006, before being bought by Natura and Co in 2017.
The Sun has taken a deep dive into what went wrong at the beloved chain.
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
