Bodycare: High street chain to close 32 stores and make 450 people redundant as it falls into administration - full list of closures
A high street chain will close 32 stores as it enters administration - making 450 people redundant.
Beauty outlet Bodycare has confirmed that it will have to shut about a fifth of its estate and sack a third of its staff as it fights to stay alive.
Administrators from Interpath have today been appointed to try to save the ailing firm. They are appointed to G.R. & M.M. Blackledge plc, which trades as Bodycare.
Bodycare, which sells beauty and bathroom products, was founded in 1970 on a market stall in Lancashire, and today employs 1,500 people. The administrators say that it has struggled in recent years with rising rent and staff costs, a delayed transition to its online retail platform, and the cost-of-living crisis impacting its customers.
The joint administrators - Nick Holloway, Chris Pole and Mike Leeds - say they intend to continue to trade the majority of Bodycare’s stores (115 in total) while they assess options for the business, including exploring the possibility of a sale of the business and its assets. These shops will remain open and operational as usual.
Nick Holloway, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “These remain challenging times for high street retailers as rising costs and reduced consumer spending continue to weigh heavily on trading. Unfortunately for Bodycare, which was also contending with a significant funding gap and increasing creditor pressure, these challenges proved too difficult to overcome.”
He continued: “Our intention is to trade the majority of the company’s stores in order to realise stock while we explore options for a possible sale of the business and its assets. In addition, and as a matter of priority, we will be providing all support to those employees impacted by redundancy, including supporting them in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.”
Full list of Bodycare stores that will shut
- Beverley
- Cameron Toll
- Cannock
- Clydebank
- Cramlington
- Croydon
- Darwen
- Dumfries
- Edinburgh
- Erdington
- Falkirk
- Hemel Hempstead
- Kirkcaldy
- Loughborough
- Lytham St Annes
- Macclesfield
- Maidstone
- Morecambe
- Newport
- Northfield
- Paisley
- Parkhead
- Perth
- Port Talbot
- Rhyl
- Royton
- Scunthorpe
- Stourbridge
- Tamworth
- West Bromwich
- Wood Green
- Wrexham