Beauty retailer Bodycare will return to high streets with 17 stores opening after it was forced to close about 150 last year.
The health and beauty chain collapsed into administration in September last year, forcing the closures and 1,000 staff to lose their jobs.
They were rescued by former Body Shop CEO Molton Brown in October, and it has been confirmed that the retailer will return to the high street.
In April, it announced that 25 stores would open by the end of 2026 and now we know where most of them will be.
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Bodycare has confirmed that 17 stores will open “soon”, and each store will have a content creator studio that will be free to use and provide “a space to film, create, experiment, and finally make the content you’ve been dreaming about.”
17 Bodycare stores opening on UK high streets
So far, it has been announced that Bodycare will open a Sheffield store at The Moor in July, which will have its own piercing studio as well as a content creator studio.
The 16 other stores will open “soon”, Bodycare says.
The full list of stores opening are:
Sheffield – The Moor
Leicester – Highcross
Derby – Derbion
Brierley Hill – Merry Hill
Bradford – The Broadway
Blackburn – The Mall
Leeds – St Johns
Bury – Mill Gate
Livingston – The Centre
Sunderland – The Bridges
Cwmbran – Cwmbran Centre
Gateshead – Metrocentre
Glasgow – The Fort
Luton – Frasers Plus Luton
Warrington – Golden Square
Northampton – Grosvenor Shopping
Wakefield – Trinity Walk
Bodycare’s managing director, David Stern, said: “Since the acquisition of Bodycare, the team has reimagined both the in-store experience and the brand’s digital presence.
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“The response from the industry to date has reinforced our confidence to scale quickly and we are looking forward to welcoming customers back as soon as possible.
“Newmark has been instrumental in supporting us in our ambitious vision.”
Newmark’s executive managing director, David Purslow, said: “Bodycare is executing a compelling retail strategy by moving at pace but with clear direction and a disciplined approach which sets it up for success.
“Our priority is to ensure the property strategy underpins the brand’s momentum as it scales nationally.”
What happens when a company goes into administration?
Put simply, when a company enters administration, it means that it is unable to pay expenses, debts, or other liabilities, according to SquareUp.com.
Companies House adds: “When a company goes into administration, they have entered a legal process (under the Insolvency Act 1986) with the aim of achieving one of the statutory objectives of an administration.
“This may be to rescue a viable business that is insolvent due to cashflow problems.
“An appointment of an administrator (a licensed insolvency practitioner) will be made by directors, a creditor or the court to fulfil the administration process.”
A statutory moratorium is put in place once a company enters administration, giving it “breathing space” to allow for financial restructuring plans to be drawn up free from creditor enforcement actions.
A company can continue to trade while in administration, but daily management and control are handed over to the administrators.
Companies House continues: “Within 8 weeks it is the administrators’ role to formulate administration proposals.
“Creditors are then asked to vote by a decision procedure to approve the administrators’ proposals.
“If the administration involves a sale of all or part of the company’s business, the proceeds (after the costs of the procedure) will be distributed to creditors in a statutory order of priority.”
Administration will end automatically after 12 months unless the administrator asks the court or creditors for an extension.
Through administration, a company can be rescued and passed back to the directors, be dissolved or enter liquidation.
Which retailer would you like to see return to the high street? Let us know in the comments.