The Body Shop India on Wednesday said that recent announcement on plans to restructure the UK business will not have an impact on the India business and all its stores will operate as usual. India operations of the brand are run by the franchise partner, Quest Retail, and the administration process relates to the Body Shop UK business.
“The Body Shop India is a Head Franchise Market. This administration process relates to The Body Shop UK business only and does not impact the Global Head Franchise Partners, “ the statement added.
Earlier last week, the Directors of The Body Shop International Ltd appointed business advisory firm FRP as administrators of the company, which operates the brand’s UK business. The administrators announced job cuts and certain store closures in the UK market. They have also stated that relationships with key franchise and wholesale partners in Asia, West Asia and Europe “would be a cornerstone of future success.”
Top markets
Shriti Malhotra, Group CEO, Quest Retail, The Body Shop India, said, “India is one of the top markets for The Body Shop globally, and our consistent growth reflects the popularity of brand and the immense opportunities we are tapping into. All our stores are open as usual. Customers can shop in our stores and online for their favourite products. The Body Shop India will continue to scale-up and focus on omni-channel expansion, while leveraging newer opportunities in retail, quick commerce and high convenience formats, so that the strong brand affinity built in India is well supported by easy and expansive access to our customers.”
Quest Retail operates about 200 stores of the Body Shop in India and caters to about 1,500 cities through the online channel. The Body Shop India was launched in 2006 and is under the umbrella of Quest Retail Pvt Ltd.