A popular health and beauty chain is on the brink of collapse with 149 stores and 1,500 jobs at risk.

Bodycare, founded in Skelmersdale by Graham and Margaret Blackledge in 1970, is seeking a rescue deal to save the company and its 1,500 employees. 

Restructuring specialists at Interpath have been working with its owner, Baaj Capital, to find a buyer for the company, which suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The firm, led by Jas Singh, recently raised £7million against the chain’s stock to buy time, but efforts to steady the business appear to be failing. 

Bodycare, known for selling brands like L’Oreal, Elizabeth Arden and Nivea, was profitable before the pandemic but has racked up heavy losses since, despite receiving government support. 

There are fears it could collapse into administration as soon as next week if a buyer is not found, Sky News reports.

The business is run by retail veteran Tony Brown, formerly of BHS and Beales.

If it does collapse, administrators would decide whether it can be saved, sold, or wound up, a move that could mean store closures, job losses, supplier problems and gift cards becoming worthless.

Bodycare could enter administration as soon as next week, Sky News reports

Bodycare could enter administration as soon as next week, Sky News reports

It would be added to the list of struggling high street chains, like River Island and Poundland, which have both sought drastic restructuring plans to survive

It would be added to the list of struggling high street chains, like River Island and Poundland, which have both sought drastic restructuring plans to survive 

The Daily Mail has contacted Bodycare for comment. 

It would be added to the list of struggling high street chains, like River Island and Poundland, which have both sought drastic restructuring plans to survive. 

The brand, famous for only selling items as cheap as £1 warned it could run out of cash within days unless its own survival plan is signed off by the courts.

Lawyers told the High Court the discount chain needs urgent approval to shut stores, cut rents and axe jobs or face administration by September 7.

Poundland, founded in Burton upon Trent in 1990, employs about 14,700 people across 800 shops. 

It announced plans in June to close 68 stores after being sold by Pepco Group to Peach Bidco, a Gordon Brothers company, for £1. 

In written submissions, Tom Smith KC, for Poundland Limited, said that the retailer’s financial position had ‘significantly deteriorated during the last two years’ and that it had ‘performed poorly in a difficult retail and economic environment’.

He said: ‘The latest liquidity forecast shows that the group will run out of cash in the week ending September 7 2025.’

The barrister continued that if the restructure was not approved, the company’s directors would likely place it into administration by Friday.

At the hearing in London, he said a ‘very significant amount of new money’ would be injected into the company through the plan.

Poundland will run out of money within days if a restructuring plan is not approved, the High Court has been told. (File image)

Poundland will run out of money within days if a restructuring plan is not approved, the High Court has been told. (File image)

Announcing Poundland's restructuring plan in June, Barry William(pictured), managing director of Poundland, said: 'It's no secret that we have much work to do to get Poundland back on track'

Announcing Poundland’s restructuring plan in June, Barry William(pictured), managing director of Poundland, said: ‘It’s no secret that we have much work to do to get Poundland back on track’

He said: ‘The plan will release a further £60 million of funding, and that is in addition to the £30 million that has already gone in following the purchase that took place on June 12.

‘So, in effect, if you add everything up, Gordon Brothers is putting in £90 million.’

As well as the store closures, which would put around 1,000 jobs at risk, Poundland also said it would close its frozen and digital distribution site at Darton, South Yorkshire, later this year and another warehouse at Springvale in Bilston, West Midlands, early next year.

A further 350 people will be affected by the warehouse closures, which are linked to the company’s plan to stop online sales through its Poundland.co.uk website.

In his written submissions, Mr Smith said that the company intended to ‘phase exits’ from some of its stores, but that ‘this is not certain’.

Poundland first appeared at the High Court in July at what is known as a ‘convening hearing’, where barristers asked for a judge’s permission to convene ‘plan meetings’ of its creditors to vote on the restructuring plan.

Following the meetings earlier this month, barristers are now asking a judge to rubber-stamp the plans at what is known as a ‘sanctioning hearing’.

Mr Smith said in written submissions that the company is currently due to pay back £276.5 million in loans by September 1, which would be pushed back by three years under the restructuring plan. 

It would also see the company, which made a pre-tax loss of around £35.7 million in the 2024 financial year, provided with a £30 million overdraft facility and have some of its rents reduced.

Mr Smith continued that many of Poundland’s stores ‘are unprofitable at their current rents’, with the company paying ‘higher than market rates for a significant number’ of its sites.

No-one has appeared in court to oppose the plan being approved.

The hearing before Sir Alastair Norris is expected to conclude later on Tuesday.

List of stores at risk 

Ashton-under-Lyne

Barrow

Barnsley 

Banbury 

Barrow 

Bedford 

Beverley 

Blackburn 

Blackpool 

Birmingham 

Bolton 

Bradford 

Bridgnorth 

Bridlington 

Bristol 

Bromsgrove 

Burnley 

Burton

Bury 

Cannock

Carlisle 

Castleford 

Chelmsford 

Chester 

Chesterfield 

Chorley 

Clitheroe 

Clydebank 

Coventry 

Cramlington 

Croydon 

Cwmbran 

Darlington 

Darwen 

Derby 

Doncaster 

Dudley 

Dumfries 

Dundee 

Dunfermline 

East Kilbride 

Eastleigh 

Erdington 

Edinburgh Cameron Toll 

Falkirk 

Gateshead 

Glasgow Braehead Shopping Centre 

Glasgow Fort Greenock 

Grimsby 

Edinburgh Gyle Shopping Centre 

Halesowen 

Halifax 

Hanley 

Harrogate 

Hartlepool 

Hereford 

Hemel Hempstead 

Hinckley 

Huddersfield 

Hull Prospect Centre 

Hull North Point Shopping Centre 

Hyde 

Ilford 

Ipswich 

Irvine 

Keighley 

Kendal 

King’s Heath 

Kirkcaldy 

Lancaster 

Leeds 

Leicester 

Leigh 

Lichfield 

Liverpool 

Livingston 

Loughborough 

Luton 

Lytham 

Macclesfield 

Manchester 

Mansfield 

Maidstone 

Merry Hill Dudley 

Middlesbrough 

Mold 

Morecambe 

Morpeth 

Northallerton 

Newark 

Newcastle 

Newport 

Northampton 

Northfield 

Nuneaton 

Oldham 

Ormskirk 

Paisley 

Parkhead 

Perth 

Pontefract 

Port Talbot 

Poulton-Le-Fylde 

Preston 

Preston Fishergate Centre 

Redcar 

Redditch 

Rhyl 

Rochdale 

Rotherham 

Romford 

Royton 

Rugby 

Salford 

Scarborough 

Scunthorpe 

Sheffield Sheffield Crystal Peaks 

Shrewsbury 

Skipton 

Solihull 

Southport 

St Helens 

Stevenage 

Stirling 

Stourbridge 

Sunderland 

Sutton 

Sutton Coldfield 

Swindon 

Tamworth 

Telford 

Thornaby 

Thurrock 

Trowbridge 

Ulverston 

Wakefield 

Walsall 

Walthamstow 

Warrington 

Washington 

Wellingborough 

West Bromwich 

Whitehaven 

Wolverhampton 

Wood Green London 

Workington 

Wrexham