Job losses likely as The Body Shop lines up administrators

Employing around 50 staff members, The Body Shop has seven stores in Ireland

Last year, the Irish arm of the cosmetic chain reported a pre-tax loss of €1.6m which it said was primarily driven by the impairment loss on intangible assets of €1.56m.

The Body Shop, the skincare and cosmetics retailer founded by the campaigner Anita Roddick in the 1970s, is set to appoint administrators in a move likely to result in lost jobs and shop closures.

The pan-European private equity investor Aurelius bought the company six weeks before Christmas but said trading over the festive period and early January had been weak.