Bodycare to disappear from high streets as remaining shops to close

Bodycare will disappear from Britain’s high streets after administrators announced the closure of its remaining 56 shops, resulting in around 450 redundancies.

The high street beauty retailer collapsed into administration earlier this month and has not been able to secure a buyer for its chain of stores in the UK.

Administrators at advisory firm Interpath said this meant it had made the difficult decision to close them down.

Bodycare was founded in 1970 in Lancashire and sold beauty products, fragrances and other bathroom items.

Its stores were based in shopping centres and high streets in towns and cities across the UK.

The final round of closures is expected to happen by Saturday, and will result in all 444 employees working across the shops being made redundant.

It means about 150 shops will have been shut since it went into administration, with more than 1,000 staff losing their jobs.

Interpath said there was still the possibility that it could find a buyer for the Bodycare brand.

Nick Holloway, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, 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.

“We will continue to explore options for the company’s assets, including the Bodycare brand, and will provide further updates in due course.”

Bodycare appointed Interpath on September 5, saying it had come under pressure from rising costs and a shortfall in funding, which also affected supplier relationships and led to stock shortages.

Its demise marks the latest blow to Britain’s high streets, after a number of retail chains have gone bust or scrambled to find a buyer to stay afloat.

Interpath hopes to secure a deal for accessories chain Claire’s after being appointed as administrators for its UK and Ireland business last month.

Discount retail chain Poundland closed a swathe of shops after being taken over by investment firm Gordon Brothers.