The Body Shop to shut nearly half of its UK stores

The Body Shop is set to shut nearly half of its 198 stores in the UK and reduce the size of its head office, leading to hundreds of job losses.

Closures will begin immediately on Tuesday, according to the firm that is overseeing the restructuring of the retailer.

The Body Shop employs around 2,200 people in the UK, including 750 staff at its head office.

The cuts would "help re-energise" the brand, the administrators said.

The stores immediately affected include four in London, where rents and other overheads are highest. Others closing on Tuesday are in Nuneaton, Ashford and Bristol.

The chain's remaining shops and the website will trade as normal as the restructuring proceeds.

The UK arm of The Body Shop was put into administration last week, a couple of months after it was bought up by Aurelius, a German private equity firm.