The Body Shop, which started in Brighton almost 50 years ago, is expected to shut nearly half of its 198 UK shops after the cosmetics chain fell into administration last week.
It will also cut around 270 head office jobs as part of a heavy restructuring, leaving it with around 400 workers at its London headquarters.
The group also employs around 1,500 workers in its shops across Britain, with hundreds of these workers expected to face redundancy as a result of the proposed closures.
Administrators for the business said that seven of its shops would shut their doors for good today (Tuesday 20 February).
Four of the branches were in London – Surrey Quays, Oxford Street, Canary Wharf and Cheapside – as well as three others in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Ashford town centre, in Kent, and Queen’s Road, Bristol.
The group’s other stores will continue to trade until further updates from insolvency experts overseeing the process.
Administrators from FRP Advisory said in a statement: “After years of unprofitability and following a full evaluation of the Body Shop’s UK business, the joint administrators have concluded that the current store portfolio mix is no longer viable.
“This swift action will help re-energise the Body Shop’s iconic brand and provide it with the best platform to achieve its ambition to be a modern dynamic beauty brand that is able to return to profitability and compete for the long term.”
The company called in administrators, who will assess offers for the brand and its assets, after years of financial struggles and amid a challenging backdrop for shoppers.
The retailer was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon and the original Body Shop branch was in Brighton.
It was one of the first companies to promote so-called ethical consumerism, focusing on ethically produced cosmetics and skincare products.
The dramatic overhaul comes only weeks after the new owner, European private equity firm Aurelius, took control of the business.
Aurelius, which specialises in buying and turning around troubled firms, secured a £207 million deal in November to buy the Body Shop from Brazilian cosmetics giant Natura and Co.
It only took control of operations officially on Monday 1 January.
Aurelius agreed a deal late last month to sell the company’s operations in most of mainland Europe and in parts of Asia to an international family office in a “decisive step towards delivering a strong turnaround strategy” at the Body Shop.
