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
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)
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