Bodycare enters administration with 32 store closures and 450 jobs

Bodycare, the British high street health and beauty retailer, has fallen into administration, with administrators announcing the immediate closure of 32 stores and the redundancy of about 450 staff across the UK. Administrators from Interpath Advisory were appointed on Friday to oversee the business, which operates 147 shops and employs roughly 1,500 people.

Interpath said the administrators intend to continue trading the majority of Bodycare stores, roughly 115 outlets, while they assess options for the business, including a possible sale of the company and its assets. The firm added that shops will remain open and operational as usual while the process is under way, although local reports said some of the 32 stores earmarked for closure had already shut earlier in the week.

Officials at Interpath and company statements cited a mix of long running pressures that eroded Bodycare's finances. Interpath said the group had been affected by rising costs, including higher rent and staffing bills, a delayed transition to an online retail platform, the broader cost of living squeeze on customers, and an aborted initial public offering in 2024 that created a funding shortfall. That...