It was reported that the British business of the Body Shop has collapsed into administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk at the one-time pioneering ethical cosmetics retailer.
The retailer was one of the most popular on the British high street in the 1980s and 1990s but has faced much greater competition from newcomers in recent years, including those also touting ethical credentials.
Founded in Brighton, southern England, in 1976 by late environmentalist and human rights activist Anita Roddick, the Body Shop was famous for promoting natural, ethically-sourced products and rejecting animal testing.
FRP, the business advisory firm appointed as administrator, on Tuesday (February 13) said the Body Shop’s 199 UK stores and online service would continue to trade.
“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,” it said.
Going into administration, a form of creditor protection can lead to a sale of the business, the closure of some or all stores and redundancies.
The UK operation’s parent company had already sold its business across most of Europe and in parts of Asia.
This was considered the first major UK retail casualty of 2024.
Last year British homeware and household goods discount retailer Wilko shut down, with the loss of over 9,000 jobs, though some of its 400 stores were acquired by other retailers.
The Body Shop in Asia
Meanwhile, InNature Bhd — the franchisee of the ethical cosmetics retailer in Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, stated that the company is continuing to operate as usual, as it has been reassured by its franchisor — The Body Shop International (BSI) — that events in the UK has nothing to do with the group’s global head franchise partners like InNature.
InNature managing director Datin Mina Cheah-Foong, however, said, “So they’ve spoken to all of us in the head franchise markets to just reassure us. For us, the biggest concern was the supply chain — whether the products are going to come to us and whether there will be any interruptions.”
“But they’ve assured us that they’ve actually secured supply chains right up until the contract runs, all the way until past 2025,” Cheah-Foong said in a written email reply to The Edge on the issue,” she added. Therefore, the employees in the Southeast Region still retain their jobs.
As of end-September 2023, InNature had 122 stores across Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
(Source – The Edge Malaysia/ Bloomberg/ Reuters)
