Body Shop in Wiltshire could be among first to close

The Body Shop store in The Shires shopping centre in Trowbridge is one of three Wiltshire stores at risk of closure. (Image: Trevor Porter 70583-1)

The Body Shop store in Trowbridge could be high on the list of possible closures following the cosmetics and skincare company’s collapse.

The Wiltshire Times has learned the lease on the store’s retail premises in The Shires shopping centre is due to expire at the end of March.

This could place the Trowbridge store high on the list of the next round of closures likely to be announced by The Body Shop International Ltd administrators FRP Advisory.

Sarah Moore, centre manager at The Shires, declined to comment on the company’s collapse.

But she revealed The Body Shop’s lease on its retail premises in the centre is due to expire next month.

She said: “I think the company that bought it, their lease is up at the end of March anyway.”

The Body Shop employs around 1,500 staff across its UK shops, with hundreds of these expected to face redundancy as a result of the proposed closures.

The Wiltshire stores at risk include those in Chippenham, Trowbridge, Salisbury and Swindon.

The company founded by Anita and Gordon Roddick in 1976 collapsed into administration on Tuesday, February 13 following several years of declining profitability.

Announcing its collapse, FRP Advisory said: “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.”

They have already closed seven stores run by The Body Shop, which was recently acquired by Aurelius, a global private equity group.

They included four stores in London at Surrey Quays, Oxford Street (Bond Street end), Canary Wharf and Cheapside.

The other three were in Queens Road, Bristol; Ashford in Kent and Nuneaton in north Warwickshire.

More than half of The Body Shop’s 198-strong cohort of UK stores are scheduled for closure. The cosmetic chain is also set to cut around 270 head office roles as part of the restructuring.

Geoff Rowley, Alastair Massey and Anthony Wright, from administrators FRP Advisory, are now trying to restructure the business.

An FRP Advisory spokesperson said: “Nothing’s been decided ” in relation to the future of the 191 stores that are still trading.

When owned by the Roddicks, The Body Shop was one of the first retail companies to focus on ethically-produced cosmetics and skincare products.

Aurelius only took control of the business on January 1 and specialises in buying and turning around troubled firms.

But weeks after Aurelius secured the company in a £207 million purchase from Brazilian cosmetics giant Natura & Co it ran into financial difficulties.