THOUSANDS have been left gutted as The Body Shop gears up to close a major service after 30 years.
The health and beauty retailer, which last week collapsed into administration, is winding down its “At Home” service for good today.
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It comes as it axes its Ambassador Programme, which was launched to replace the old service, leaving consultants furious, and closes branches across the UK.
The Body Shop at Home works much like Avon, which lets consultants sell health and beauty products door-to-door.
Thousands currently use the service but will be waving goodbye as it shuts for good today.
Shoppers will be able to use the service until the end of today while consultants can sell back any excess stock to The Body Shop.
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Plenty of consultants have been posting online in recent days advertising all their leftover stock for sale.
Sellers who used the service, some as a side hustle to make extra money, have been left “absolutely devastated” at the news it will shut.
Posting online, one said: “Goodbye The Body Shop at Home. You will forever be etched on my heart.”
A second said: “It’s so incredibly sad to see what’s happening to this amazing brand.
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“Goodbye Body Shop at Home and thanks for all the amazing memories.”
Meanwhile, a third said: “That’s a wrap folks. Thank you to everyone who supported my little love project.”
It comes after The Body Shop axed a replacement “Ambassador Programme”, which only launched on January 12.
We have asked the administrators when exactly the Ambassador Programme closed and will update this story when we have heard back.
Consultants using the newly-launched service have come out in anger after discovering it has been ditched after just six weeks.
One said: “The way this has all been dealt with is shocking and we still don’t have much information.”
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.
Another added: “Sadly The Body Shop at Home and the Ambassador program are over.”
Meanwhile, a third commented: “Unfortunately as The Body Shop has entered further into administration, they have now decided to disable the Ambassador programme.
“This has obviously come as a shock as this programme was only set up around five weeks ago.”
It comes after The Body Shop fell into administration last week in a blow for shoppers.
When a company goes into administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator whose job it is to stop the company being liquidated.
If it can’t, the administrator pays as much of a company’s debts as possible from the assets.
On Tuesday, it announced it would be closing seven stores with immediate effect and eventually almost half its portfolio of 198 branches as part of the administration process.
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.
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.
It comes after The Body Shop was bought out by private equity firm Aurelius in a deal worth £207million in November.
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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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
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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