Body Shop facing axe in East Kilbride

A retail store is under threat after beauty giant The Body Shop plunged into administration.

East Kilbride is one of 15 Scottish stores facing the axe after the popular retailer began the insolvency process lastTuesday.

The owners of The Body Shop, which has more than 200 branches across the UK, have appointed FRP

Advisory as administrators, putting 2000 jobs at risk.

Administrators FRP said the move to place the retailer in administration“provides the stability, flexibility and security to find the best means of securing the future” of the chain, adding: “The joint administrators will now consider all options to find a way forward for the business and will update creditors and employees in due course.”

It comes just weeks after the Body Shop at Home in the UK and Australia was axed.

The Avon-style business sees consultants sell products to customers from the comfort of their own home.

Stores will continue to trade, with shops and the online site remaining open and making sales.

Glasgow stores included in the list of proposed closures include Glasgow Braehead, Glasgow Fort, Glasgow Silverburn, Glasgow St Enoch and Glasgow Station.

A Body Shop statement said:“Administrators will now consider all options to find a way forward for the business and will update creditors and employees in due course.

“The Body Shop has faced an extended period of financial challenges under past owners, coinciding with a difficult trading environment for the wider retail sector.”

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Dame Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon, championing environmental causes and opposing animal testing.

It was owned by L’Oreal between 2006 and 2017 before being sold to Brazilian cosmetics group Natura.

The move comes as a number of other retailers struggle amid surging energy costs and as consumers turn to online shopping.