The Body Shop is set to close dozens of stores including seven today.

The private equity firm Aurelius, which bought the company in November for £207 million, appointed administrators for the company’s UK operation last week.

Now, The Body Shop’s joint administrators have confirmed that seven of its stores will close today.

After the restructure, administrators expect over half of the company’s 198 branches will remain open.

But the future of The Body Shop stores in Sussex remains unclear.

The Body Shop was founded in Brighton by Anita Roddick, who started the company from a single store in Kensington Gardens in the heart of North Laine in 1976, becoming well-known for its ethical trading practices and cruelty-free ingredients.

She opened another shop the following year and had grown to 138 stores by 1984, with several in other countries in Kensington Gardens, Brighton.

Dame Anita, who was born in Littlehampton, sold the business to L'Oréal in 2006 for £652 million, but attracted criticism for their links to animal testing.

She died the following year in Chichester at the age of 64 after suffering from a brain haemorrhage.

The Body Shop has one store in Brighton, in North Street, as well as a branch in George Street in Hove.

The company also has six other stores across Sussex, with shops in Worthing, Horsham, Eastbourne, Crawley, Chichester and Hastings.

Joint administrators Tony Wright, Geoff Rowley and Alastair Massey said: “A reduced store footprint, will coincide with a renewed focus on the brand’s products, online sales channels and wholesale strategies, bringing the brand in line with industry peers and supporting a return to financial stability.

"This swift action will help re-energise The Body Shop’s iconic brand and provide it with the best platform to achieve its ambition to be a modern, dynamic beauty brand that is able to return to profitability and compete for the long term.”

The seven stores immediately impacted are:

  • Surrey Quays (London)
  • Oxford Street Bond Street (London)
  • Canary Wharf (London)
  • Cheapside (London)
  • Nuneaton (Warwickshire)
  • Ashford Town Centre (Kent)
  • Bristol Queens Road (Bristol)