A leading British beauty chain is set to commence the closure of 30 stores from today (September 16). This follows Bodycare’s fall into administration earlier this month, placing over 100 stores at risk.
Despite this, 30 stores are already set for closure due to the administration, resulting in 450 job losses.
Bodycare confirmed that the new wave of closures will occur on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Administrators cited financial unviability and a shortage of stock as reasons for the closures, stating it was not feasible to keep all 115 Bodycare stores in the UK operational.
Nick Holloway, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, expressed his gratitude to the staff on Monday: “We’d like to express our sincere thanks to the hundreds of dedicated Bodycare staff who have shown such professionalism since our appointment. We will continue to trade the remaining 85 stores while we remain in discussions with interested parties with the aim of preserving as much of the business as possible.”
Founded in 1970 by Graham and Margaret Blackledge on a Lancashire market stall, Bodycare has been owned by Baaj Capital since 2021. It was previously reported that Bodycare secured up to £7m in debt facility against its retail inventory, a formal agreement where a lender provides money to a borrower over a set period.
Nick Holloway, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, expressed his gratitude to the staff on Monday: “We’d like to express our sincere thanks to the hundreds of dedicated Bodycare staff who have shown such professionalism since our appointment. We will continue to trade the remaining 85 stores while we remain in discussions with interested parties with the aim of preserving as much of the business as possible.”
Founded in 1970 by Graham and Margaret Blackledge on a Lancashire market stall, Bodycare has been owned by Baaj Capital since 2021. It was previously reported that Bodycare secured up to £7m in debt facility against its retail inventory, a formal agreement where a lender provides money to a borrower over a set period.
Full list of Bodycare stores closing
Here’s a full list of all the Bodycare stores closing this week:
- Bolton – Greater Manchester
- Bromsgrove – Worcestershire
- Castleford – West Yorkshire
- Chesterfield – Derbyshire
- Doncaster – South Yorkshire
- Dudley – West Midlands
- Dunfermline – Scotland
- Greenock – Scotland
- Hanley – Staffordshire
- Hull – East Riding of Yorkshire
- Hyde – Greater Manchester
- Ilford – Greater London
- Ipswich – Suffolk
- Mansfield – Nottinghamshire
- Morpeth – Northumberland
- Newark – Nottinghamshire
- Northallerton – North Yorkshire
- Ormskirk – Lancashire
- Redcar – North Yorkshire
- Rochdale – Greater Manchester
- Salford – Greater Manchester
- Shrewsbury – Shropshire
- Skipton – North Yorkshire
- St Helens – Merseyside
- Stevenage – Hertfordshire
- Sutton-in-Ashfield – Nottinghamshire
- Thornaby – North Yorkshire
- Ulverston – Cumbria
- Whitehaven – Cumbria
- Workington – Cumbria
Before falling into administration, Bodycare was already struggling with increased costs and falling sales. It had previously already launched clearance sales or introduced closures at a number of stores.