High street giants Next and Marks & Spencer have made early expressions of interest in bidding for The Body Shop as an auction for the stricken cosmetics chain gets underway.
The sale process marks the second time that The Body Shop has been on the block within the past year.
The chain, founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, was bought last November by the private equity firm Aurelius, only to collapse, controversially, in February.
The Sunday Times reports that both Next and M&S have in recent years begun selling outside brands, particularly on their websites. M&S bought Jaeger in 2021 after it collapsed under its former owners and now stocks dozens of other third-party brands online including White Stuff and FatFace.
Next, led by chief executive Lord (Simon) Wolfson, has become a prolific buyer of struggling brands, including Joules, Made.com, FatFace and JoJo Maman Bébé. It has been approached by several private equity and venture capital firms over a possible joint bid for The Body Shop.