Lancashire-based high Street beauty chain Bodycare is to close its 56 remaining stores, resulting in 444 redundancies, administrators have confirmed.
Last week, the bargain beauty brand announced the closure of 30 shops, having collapsed into administration earlier this month. A shortage of stock and the cost of running stores meant it was no longer viable to keep its 115 stores open, according to administrators at the time. Since the appointment of administrators, roughly 150 shops have been shut, and more than 1,000 people have already lost their jobs so far.
Bodycare specialised in selling fragrances, toiletries, cosmetics and skincare products from the likes of L’Oreal, Nivea and Elizabeth Arden at bargain prices, and was founded on a Skelmersdale market stall more than half a century ago by Graham and Margaret Blackledge. It employed about 1,500 people.
Joint administrator and managing director at restructuring and advisory business Interpath, Nick Holloway, said: “We understand this has been a difficult period and so we want to further express our sincere thanks to Bodycare’s staff who, since day one of the administration, have maintained the strong standards of presentation and customer service that Bodycare was renowned for.”
READ MORE: Put t’ kettle on, London – The North is coming as DUSK.COM plots Tower Bridge takeover
Current Bodycare owner Baaj Capital was reportedly seeking a buyer for the brand before entering administration, and Holloway suggested that this could still be a possibility: “We will continue to explore options for the company’s assets, including the Bodycare brand, and will provide further updates in due course,” he said.
Bodycare had been profitable pre-pandemic, but like many retailers lost millions of pounds in the financial years immediately after. It received state financial support in the form of a multimillion-pound loan from one of the Treasury’s pandemic funding schemes during the pandemic itself.
Bodycare is the latest in a series of high street chains to face collapse this year, amid intensifying complaints from the industry about tax increases announced in last autumn’s budget, continuing pressure on customers from the cost of living crisis, and the onward march of online shopping.
Household names River Island and Poundland have both narrowly avoided administration recently after winning creditor approval for restructuring plans, both of which will involve store closures and job losses.
Image: Betty Longbottom/Geograph/Creative Commons
