Published
Apr 18, 2019
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The Body Shop to relocate company HQ again

Published
Apr 18, 2019

The Body Shops is waving goodbye to Croydon and relocating its headquarters to London Bridge again less than three years after a multi-million pound move.


Instagram @thebodyshop


The cosmetics retailer, now owned by Brazil’s Natura, spent £1.4m fitting out Knollys House, near East Croydon Station, where it relocated its 250-strong workforce in 2016. The space, spreading over 24,000 square feet across four floors, was set to bring the brand’s London employees closer to the other office in Littlehampton, Sussex.

In 2017, The Body Shop also opened a £1m ‘beauty innovation hub’ lab in Croydon. The 3,200-square-foot space became home to the company’s development team, which was previously based in  Littlehampton, Sussex. There, a team of scientists currently test and alter formulas in a bid to make the firm’s products as natural as possible.

The future of this lab has been thrown into uncertainty now that The Body Shop has taken an entire building on London’s Tooley Street within the mixed-use development area, More London Estate. Spanning 24,244 square feet, the building at 155 Tooley Street has four floors and will become the brand’s new headquarters.

“More London is an exciting and popular location that is very much in demand,” commented Nick Codling, partner in central London at Knight Frank.

The decision to return to offices in central London could cost the company millions of pounds, as the business will have to incur considerable removal costs and bigger rents.

Croydon’s regeneration has struggled to take off following months of commuter misery at the hands of Southern Rail. Furthermore, Westfield Croydon’s £1.4bn shopping centre development has been recently placed under review amid structural changes on the high street.

The Body Shop’s new space in London Bridge has been designed by architecture firm Hawkins Brown in a contemporary style. According to a planning application, the head office will include an exhibition space where the brand will host product launches and other activities.

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