The Body Shop is to close 75 shops in the UK over the coming weeks and cut 489 jobs, according to FRP Advisory, the administrator that is managing its restructuring.
Seven stores were shut on 20 February, including flagship outlets in central London, and 40% of the company’s back office roles were cut. The firm went into administration a week before that, on 13 February.
In total 800 people will be made redundant while 116 UK shops will remain open.
Redundancy
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The latest announcement will see the additional 75 stores being closed over the next six weeks. FRP Advisory said it would “support all impacted staff with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service”.
FRP Advisory’s Tony Wright said: “In taking swift action to right-size The Body Shop UK store portfolio, we have stabilised the business”.
Until it entered administration the retailer employed more than 2,200 people in the UK with 750 staff based at its head office.
Last week the administrators said the company’s store portfolio mix was “no longer viable”. With 116 stores remaining open FRP Advisory has fulfilled its promise more than half of The Body Shop’s 198 UK stores would remain open.
FRP said that a reduced store footprint would help a renewed focus on the brand’s products, online sales channels and wholesale strategies, “bringing the brand in line with industry peers and supporting a return to financial stability”.
Among the stores now closing include four in Glasgow, two in Edinburgh and six more in Greater London: in Regent Street, Islington, Bexleyheath, Brixton, Walthamstow and Croydon.
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