Bodycare to shut a further 30 stores after beauty chain collapse

Pritti MistryBusiness reporter

Alamy A person in a grey jacket and blue jeans walks past a shop with 'Bodycare' written on the top-right of the frontage. The store has large glass windows displaying various products such as toiletries, cosmetics, and household items. Shelves of products are visible inside the entrance. Signs on the windows advertise prices and promotions.

A further 30 Bodycare stores are to shut following the health and beauty chain’s collapse into administration.

The retailer fell into administration on 5 September and immediately closed 32 of its 147 shops with the loss of 450 jobs.

Another 235 staff will be affected by the closures this week, which brings the total to 685 staff losing their jobs since the company collapsed.

A spokesperson for the administrators said the business was up for sale and there had been “interest from a number of parties” in relation to some of the remaining 85 stores, the future of which it hoped to secure.

The company’s administrators have now said another 14 stores will close on Tuesday while 16 more will shut on Thursday.

“Unfortunately, however, given the shortage of stock and costs associated with operating stores, it is no longer viable to continue to trade all 115 stores retained on appointment,” the spokesperson said.

Until it entered administration, the firm employed about 1,500 people.

The administrators previously said the stores had become too expensive to maintain amidst rising rents, with retailers facing “challenging times”.

Nick Holloway, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “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.”

Bodycare was founded in Lancashire in 1970. Its store layouts are known for their bright lighting and window displays that often feature piles of toilet tissue or pyramids of washing up powder.

It also offers warehouse-style display shelves packed with goods such as lip balm, perfume, false nails and foot cream.

The stores closing on Tuesday are: