List of remaining Body Shop stores as brand rescued from administration

After the business sank earlier this year, around 113 branches remain open (Picture: AFP)

The Body Shop, the cosmetic store that embraces cruelty-free and all-natural products, has been saved from administration.

Between years of austerity, a worldwide pandemic and a cost of living crisis, it hasn’t been the best time recently to be a high-street retailer.

After all, as one Metro.co.uk columnist asked in 2013: ‘Is the death of the high street inevitable??’

Apparently not.

British tycoon Mike Jatania’s investment firm Auréa announced the completion of the acquisition on Saturday, all but securing a future for 1,300 workers.

He and Charles Denton, the former chief executive of beauty brand Molton Brown, will head up the Body’s Shop’s leadership team.

There are no immediate plans for any of the 113 remaining Body Shop stores to close anytime soon.

Auréa, which is leading a consortium of buyers in the deal, said it would ‘steer the Body Shop’s revival and reclaim its global leadership in the ethical beauty sector it pioneered’ in its largest transaction to date.

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, a business exec who was less about button-up life and more about campaigns for rain forests, women’s rights and against animal testing.

Less than 10 years later, The Body Shop was listed on the stock exchange at £80,000,000, becoming a go-to for colourful body butter tubs and vegan perfumes.

‘I’d rather promote bloody human rights than a bubble bath,’ Roddick said in a 1996 interview. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be running this company.’

French cosmetics giant L’Oreal bought The Body Shop in 2009 for £652million – Roddick died only a year later. Her franchise was then sold to Natura of Brazil for £880,000,000 more than 10 years later, which then sold it to Aurelius.

But Aurelius admitted it was unable to keep The Body Shop afloat in Britain amid fierce competition from other natural beauty brands like Lush and spiralling costs.

Dozens of shops were closed by the business advisory firm FRP earlier this year (Picture: Getty Images)

Administrators said hundreds of jobs could be lost and dozens of shops closed. At the time, The Body Shop employed about 1,500 store workers.

FRP Advisory shut 85 stores and cut 85 shop jobs and 270 office roles.

Jatania, co-founder of Aurea, said: ‘With the Body Shop, we have acquired a truly iconic brand with highly engaged consumers in over 70 markets around the world.

‘We plan to focus relentlessly on exceeding their expectations by investing in product innovation and seamless experiences across all of the channels where customers shop while paying homage to the brand’s ethical and activist positioning.’

Charles Denton, chief executive of the Body Shop, said: ‘We believe there’s a sustainable future ahead and working closely with the management team we aim to restore the Body Shop’s unique, values-driven, independent spirit.’

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