Retail Closures: Detailed List of Shops Shutting Down, Resulting in 450 Job Losses

In a significant turn of events, high street health and beauty retailer Bodycare has collapsed into administration. The joint administrators, Nick Holloway, Chris Pole, and Mike Leeds from Interpath, have been appointed to oversee the company's affairs.

G.R. & M.M. Blackledge plc, which trades as Bodycare, has been facing a series of challenges in recent years. These include rising costs, a delayed transition to its online retail platform, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on its customer base, and a funding shortfall following the aborted planned IPO in 2024.

As a result of the administration, around 450 employees have been made redundant, and the joint administrators will provide support to these individuals in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Service. However, the administration does not mean the end for all Bodycare stores. The joint administrators intend to continue trading 115 stores, with the aim of assessing options for the business, including a possible sale.

While 11 stores will close, including Beverley, Cameron Toll, Cannock, Clydebank, Cramlington, Croydon, Darwen, Dumfries, and Edinburgh, Bodycare stores in other locations will continue to operate as usual. These include Erdington, Falkirk, Hemel Hempstead, Kirkcaldy, Loughborough, Lytham St Annes, Macclesfield, Maidstone, Morecambe, Newport, Northfield, Paisley, Parkhead, Perth, Port Talbot, Rhyl, Royton, Scunthorpe, Stourbridge, Tamworth, West Bromwich, Wood Green, and Wrexham.

Bodycare, which was founded in Lancashire in 1970, trades from 147 stores across the UK, employing around 1,500 people. The company has been a staple of the high street for over five decades, but the recent challenges have proven too much to overcome.

The founding date of G.R. & M.M. Blackledge plc, the parent company of Bodycare, is not publicly available. The joint administrators will now work to assess the best course of action for the future of the business, with the hope that a sale or continued trading can secure the jobs of the remaining employees and continue the legacy of Bodycare on the UK high street.