More than 60 landlords including Landsec, British Land and Hammerson will find themselves with gaps to fill should administrators fail to find a rescue deal for The Body Shop, according to data from EG Radius.
The chain was placed into administration earlier this week, less than three months after it was taken over by private equity firm Aurelius. It casts doubt on the future of the 199 shops it operates across the UK, many of which are in the biggest and best-known shopping centres.
The average size of The Body Shop’s stores is estimated to be just above 1,900 sq ft. For many of the owners, the retailer accounts for only a small part of their rental income.
Most exposed is Landsec, which owns or part-owns eight shopping centres with a Body Shop store. These include Bluewater in Kent, One New Change in London, EC4, and Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxford, which it owns jointly with the Crown Estate.
Landsec also owns Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, Leeds’ White Rose Shopping Centre, Clarks Village in Somerset, Braintree Village and St David’s Dewi Sant in Cardiff, all of which feature The Body Shop in the tenant mix. The retailer makes up under 0.5% of its overall rent roll.
A spokesperson for Landsec said: “We are sorry to hear The Body Shop has gone into administration and we will work alongside administrators to find the best solution for everyone. We believe strongly in the future of physical retail and its ability to offer guests great experiences so our focus, as always, is on creating exciting and varied destinations.”
British Land will also be keeping a keen eye on the administration, with five stores in its portfolio. It has The Body Shop as a tenant in Sheffield’s Meadowhall as well as Ealing Broadway, W5, Broughton Shopping Park near Chester, St Stephen’s in Hull and Whiteley Shopping Centre in Hampshire.
Hammerson could be faced with vacancies in Brent Cross Shopping Centre, Southampton’s Westquay, the Bullring in Birmingham and Cabot Circus in Bristol.
The Body Shop is also a tenant in both of London’s Westfield shopping centres – Westfield Stratford and Westfield White City – owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. URW also owns Croydon’s Centrale & Whitgift Centre, where the Body Shop has a presence.
The retailer can also be found in Manchester’s Trafford Centre, owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, as well as Newcastle’s Metrocentre, managed by Sovereign Centros. Both were part of intu’s empire before the shopping centre landlord went into administration in 2020.
The full list of landlords extends beyond the world of real estate investors and developers. Councils from Tunbridge Wells, Teignbridge and Oldham are The Body Shop landlords, as are pension funds for BT and British Airways.
It is broadly hoped the retailer’s administrators at FRP Advisory will be able to find a buyer willing to take on a slimmed-down business containing around half of its existing stores, but this would still leave many landlords on the hunt for new occupiers.
Photo © Maureen McLean/Shutterstock
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