The Body Shop to cut 300 jobs at head office and dozens of stores could close

Administrators tell staff seven shops will shut immediately but no more than half of chain will be closed

The Body Shop is to cut 300 jobs at head office while dozens of its 198 stores in the UK could close with the likely loss of hundreds more jobs as the business battles for survival.

Administrators told staff on Tuesday that seven stores would close immediately but promised no more than half of its total would close over time, while numbers at its offices in London and Littlehampton in Sussex were being cut by 40% to 400. It is not clear if jobs at the group’s warehouse, also in Littlehampton, will be affected.