The Body Shop confirms administration putting 200 stores at risk of closure

THE Body Shop has confirmed it has gone into administration putting 200 stores at risk of closure.

The retailer’s owners Aurelius have appointed administrators at FRP Advisory throwing doubt over the future of the iconic high street brand.

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It comes just days after reports emerged that The Body Shop was set to call in administrators and begin the insolvency process.

The ailing retailer has 199 locations and employs 2,000 workers in the UK.

We have a full list of The Body Shop stores at risk of closing.

The Body Shop will continue to trade, with shops and the online site remaining open and making sales.

Administrators FRP said said the move to place the retailer in administration “provides the stability, flexibility and security to find the best means of securing the future” of the chain.

They said: “The joint administrators will now consider all options to find a way forward for the business and will update creditors and employees in due course.”

The Body Shop was bought by private equity firm Aurelius from former owner Natura and Co in November in a deal worth £207million.

The cosmetics group said it was looking to shift its focus away from the UK market and towards South America.

New owners Aurelius, a private equity group which also owns Lloyds Pharmacy and Footasylum, also confirmed that it sold off most of The Body Shop business in mainland Europe and parts of Asia last month.

The administration of its UK branch of the business comes just weeks after it axed the Body Shop at Home service in the UK and Australia after 30 years.

The Avon-style business lets individual consultants sell products to customers from the comfort of their home.

Thousands of consultants currently use the Body Shop at Home service, but it will close for good on February 23.

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.

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.

It comes as a number of other retailers struggle amid surging energy costs and as consumers turn to online shopping.

A number of retailers have crashed into administration last year, including Cath Kidston, Paperchase and major discounter Wilko.

But Wilko has since returned to the high street under The Range’s ownership, and Wilko branded items are being stocked in The Range stores.

Wilko’s fall was the biggest British retail collapse since McColl’s plunged into administration in May last year.

But the cornershop chain was saved from closure after Morrisons swooped in to protect 16,000 jobs.

Paperchase collapsed into administration at the end of January last year year and all 106 stores closed for good.

However, the Paperchase brand name and intellectual property were purchased by Tesco.

Scottish clothing brand M&Co and wellies retailer Joules are among the familiar brands which went bust in 2022.

Like Paperchase, the M&Co brand name was purchased by Yours Clothing – but all stores shut.

Howevever, Yours Clothing has plans to open 50 new M&Co branded stores over the next two years.

But it’s not all bad news. A number of retailers have opened branches this year too.

These include B&M, Peacocks and Sephora opening new sites.

The Sun has put together a full list of high street brands opening stores this year.

What does going into administration mean?

When a company enters administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator – who has to be a licensed insolvency practitioner.

Their goal is to leverage the company’s assets and business to repay creditors.

Once the administrator has taken over, a moratorium is placed around the company and stops all legal actions.

After the administrator takes over, there isn’t much that can be done to reverse the process.

How does administration work?

The administrator will write to your creditors and Companies House to say they’ve been appointed.

They will try to stop the company from being liquidated but if they can’t, the administrator will pay as much of a company’s debts as possible from the assets.

The administrator has eight weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do.

This must be sent to creditors, employees and Companies House and invites them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting.

The administrators might try to negotiate rents with landlords to keep stores open, or they might look to close just the least profitable stores.

Refunds and gift cards – your rights explained

For now, The Body Shop will continue to process returns as normal.

But it’s best to do this sooner rather than later in case the company fails to find a buyer and stops trading.

When a company goes into administration, the people appointed to manage the process can decide whether to allow the use of gift cards or not.

It means you’ll need to keep an eye on the administration process to see what your rights are.

The administrators are allowed to stop accepting gift cards at any point.

If the administrators later decide that you can’t use your vouchers, you should register a claim with the administrators for the value of the vouchers.

This also applies if the company can’t be saved through administration and is later liquidated.

However, you may not get this money back if other creditors are owed money too. You may also only get a portion of the money back.

If the voucher or amount put on a gift card was for more than £100, then it may be possible to claim the money back if it was purchased with a credit card.

This is because the card company is jointly liable under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

If the voucher was a gift, then you’d need to ask the person who bought it for you to claim the money back.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk