Roddick returns to the Body Shop floor

Body Shop founder Anita Roddick is returning to the shop floor to mark the 25th birthday of the green cosmetics chain.

She will don an apron to serve customers and stack shelves at The Body Shop store in High Street, Kensington, London.

All profits from the company's stores across the UK on Monday will go to Children On The Edge, an organisation Miss Roddick founded in 1990 which helps youngsters in Romania, Albania, Kosovo and East Timor.

Miss Roddick opened her first shop in Brighton in 1976 with a £4,000 loan and the chain now has 1,800 branches in 49 countries.

But John Lewis, manager of the Kensington store, said he was sure his internationally famous and outspoken boss would have no problems re-adjusting to life behind the counter.

"The team here are all really looking forward to her visit," he said.

"We can't wait to see customers' faces when they realise it's actually Anita serving them."

In the early days, Miss Roddick's natural products were sold in refillable plain jars with handwritten labels.

She has since achieved the feat of creating a successful public company which is accountable to shareholders while refusing to compromise its campaigning principles.

She has mobilised customers against child labour and exploitation in the Third World and in support of Fair Trade, Greenpeace and human rights and was also instrumental in bringing about a ban on testing finished cosmetic products and ingredients on animals in the UK in 1998.