The Physique Store’s suppliers, together with small charities, native councils and cosmetics producers, are to obtain not more than a couple of quarter of the £219 million ($284 million) owed to them when the moral magnificence retailer fell into administration, a report has mentioned.
The retailer, based by Anita Roddick in 1976, now operates about 113 UK shops after it was rescued from administration by a consortium led by the British cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania in September final 12 months, saving 1,300 jobs.
Nonetheless, greater than 80 British shops had been closed with the lack of greater than 750 jobs in branches and head workplace after the German restructuring specialist Aurelius put the Physique Store’s UK arm into administration in February 2024, lower than three months after taking management from the Brazilian group Natura.
Shops additionally closed abroad, together with within the US, Canada and Germany, because the abroad divisions had been hit by the collapse of the dad or mum group.
Of their newest replace on progress, directors from FRP revealed that Jatania’s Aurea Group paid at the least £44.3 million for the retailer.
They mentioned UK tax authorities could be paid in full from the proceeds of the administration and employees would obtain vacation pay owed. Nonetheless, unsecured collectors, reminiscent of suppliers, charities and landlords, who had been owed £219 million in whole, would obtain solely between 16 p.c and 27 p.c of the cash owed.
On the time of its collapse, directors mentioned unsecured collectors included Youngsters on the Edge, a youngsters’s rights organisation working in nations together with Bangladesh and Uganda; E-Cycle, a Welsh IT recycling service that employs disabled individuals; MindOut, a Brighton-based psychological well being group; and the natural certification physique Ecocert.
The Physique Store additionally owed hundreds of thousands of kilos to suppliers around the globe; the was most owed to Avon, the struggling cosmetics group owned by the Physique Store’s former dad or mum firm Natura, at simply over £13 million for merchandise it manufactured.
The retailer’s former proprietor Aurelius didn’t obtain any cost.
On the time of its collapse, directors mentioned the Physique Store’s money owed totalled greater than £276 million, of which £6.3 million was tax owed, £44 million was cash owed to commerce collectors, £63 million from lease liabilities and different borrowing and £143 million to “associated suppliers” understood to be different components of the enterprise.
The group is now run by the previous Molton Brown boss Charles Denton, who mentioned the enterprise had achieved a revenue in its first 100 days.
The corporate, which as soon as had 3,000 outlets worldwide, continues to function in 83 abroad markets with greater than 1,300 retailers. Most of these shops are operated by franchise companions, together with about 700 in Europe, 60 in Canada and practically 100 in Australia, in addition to India, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea.
By Sarah Butler
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The physique care maker reportedly made a $2.5 million revenue on $34.5 million in gross sales within the first three months below its new house owners, Aurea Group, which acquired it out of administration in September.
