The Body Shop at Westwood Cross to shut following firm going into administration

The Body Shop at Westwood Cross Photo Steven Collis

The Body Shop at Westwood Cross will shut in the next four to six weeks.

Joint Administrators of The Body Shop International Limited, Tony Wright, Geoff Rowley, and Alastair Massey from FRP Advisory, have announced 75 stores will close, including the one in Thanet, with 489 staff in total made redundant.

This is in addition to seven store closures earlier this month.

The remaining 116 Body Shop outlets across the UK will remain open, including the store in Canterbury.

Tony Wright, Joint Administrator, said: “In taking swift action to right-size The Body Shop UK store portfolio, we have stabilised the business and are providing the best opportunity for this iconic brand to have a long-term, sustainable future.

“The UK business continues to trade in administration, and we remain fully focused on exploring all options to take the business forward.”

FRP stated it will support all impacted staff with their claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.

Aurelius bought The Body Shop International Limited in a £207m deal announced last November and completed at the beginning of this year.

But administrators were brought in for the ailing UK arm this month.

The Body Shop posted a loss of £60m in its last financial year when it was still owned by the Brazilian cosmetics group Natura & Co.

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, with a small shop in Brighton/UK. At the heart of her vision stood an ethical approach to business, a purpose that was trail-blazing at the time.

The company was sold to L’Oreal in 2006 and then to Natura &Co in 2017 before the Aurelius sale.