Bodycare staff eye legal challenge as administration goes ahead
Plus: Government urged to deliver on its manifesto promise to ban fracking forever
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead,
Earlier this month we reported on the administrators being called into a once proud Lancashire company and a nationally-known chain, Bodycare. Staff were left with uncertain futures and sadly that has now been confirmed to be redundancy when the stores all close for a final time on Saturday. No buyer has been found.
We had a strong reaction to our report and there’s a sense of anger about how the business was run - something we’ve dug into and explored as question marks are raised as to why Value Beauty Limited (with the same directors and address as Bodycare) has recently been registered.
A number of employees are planning a group legal action against the Bodycare owners - as they expect to sit at the back of the queue when it comes to getting money owed even though the government’s redundancy scheme has kicked in. It is cold comfort for those who worked hard for the firm.
And another topic we’ve turned to before is also back in the headlines, after the Lib Dems said they would ban fracking the calls for the Labour government to honour their manifesto pledge and do the same is growing. We hear from Frack Free Lancashire who fought a long battle against the shale gas extraction at Preston New Road in Lancashire - which Reform nationally have an eye on trying to resume if ever gaining power in Westminster (although Reform locally claim they would not follow through on this).
A body blow to Lancashire as health and beauty chain Bodycare goes bust - but what of its owners?
As the shutters are pulled down on the last remaining shops in health and beauty chain Bodycare's empire it has emerged that taxpayers will foot the company's £37m redundancy bill.
The firm - which has its HQ in Buckshaw Village, Leyland, - employs 1,500 people and blamed the collapse of running 147 UK shops on rising costs and fierce competition for consumer spending.
Now staff - some of whom have worked for the firm for more than 30 years - must apply to the Government's Redundancy Payments Service for pay outs.
And in another twist, documents seen by The Lancashire Lead reveal that Bodycare's owner Jaswinder Singh heads the list of the company's creditors.
That means Singh - who owns Castleford-based Baaj Capital which runs Bodycare - will be paid off once tax bills have been settled ahead of staff and suppliers.
Companies House data shows Singh put a charge against the company in August - just two weeks before it went into administration.
And it has been discovered that both 50-year-old Singh and fellow director, retail expert Tony Brown, 67, who had a senior role at collapsed BHS have been named as directors of a new firm called Value Beauty Limited, which gives its company address as the current business location of Bodycare on Western Avenue, Buckshaw Village.
They were incorporated as directors at the end of August. Another man named as a director of Value Beauty, 56-year-old Paul Davies holds a number of other directorships, including a Manchester based steel fabrication company.
Bodycare was founded in Skelmersdale in 1970 by Graham and Margaret Blackledge and operated as a family firm until four years ago. It built its reputation on offering affordable branded products from household names like L'Oreal, Elizabeth Arden and Nivea.
This week the closure of the last stores will mark the final chapter on one of Lancashire's biggest firms when administrators Interpath announced they had been unable to find a buyer for the firm.
A spokesman said: "The joint administrators have continued to liaise with a number of parties who have expressed interest in the business, including interest in the Bodycare brand.
"While these discussions remain ongoing, it is with regret that the administrators confirm that a sale of the stores is now unlikely.
"Given the shortage of stock and significant costs associated with operating stores, it is no longer viable to continue to trade the business.
"Regrettably, all 444 members of staff at these locations will be made redundant upon the closing of their respective stores. The administrators will continue to provide all support to those impacted, including supporting them with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service."
The last shops will close on Saturday 27 September. Bodycare's creditors include a long list of suppliers as well as American Express.
One supplier recently blocked the entrance to Bodycare's headquarters and refused to move until his £29,000 bill was paid.
One former Bodycare employee - who worked at the firm for more than a decade - said staff were angry the taxpayer would be forced to pick up the bill for their redundancy payments.
He said: "It is disgraceful the owner have been allowed to destroy such a well established firm owing hundreds of thousands of pounds to suppliers and creditors and tens of millions of pounds to hard working and loyal members of staff.
"The final straw was to discover they are going to get away with not footing the bill for our redundancy payments but are free to go off and set up another company.
"And to be told that Jaswinder Singh will be paid out before members of staff and creditors is the final kick in the teeth for people who have been at Bodycare for all or most of their working lives.
"There needs to be a change in the law to stop this kind of thing happening."
Meanwhile, he revealed that staff at the Buckshaw Village headquarters are planning a class legal action against Bodycare's owners for unpaid wages.
And he said many staff had since found the company had failed to make payments to their pension funds.
He said: "Legal action is definitely on the cards. Some employees are still owed their last month's wages. Even those taken on to clear the warehouses on a daily rate never got paid."
A spokesperson for Interpath confirmed the Government's redundancy scheme would provide pay outs, including for unpaid pension contributions.
They said: "Staff will be able to make claims to the Redundancy Payments service. They will be able to make claims for any monies owed, including arrears of wages, outstanding holiday pay, redundancy pay, notice pay and pension contribution arrears."
However, Interpath would not comment on how much money was being claimed by Singh, saying the information would not be available until the end of the month.
Nick Holloway, Managing Director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “We understand this has been a difficult period, and so want to further express our sincere thanks to Bodycare’s staff who, since day one of the administration, have maintained the strong standards of presentation and customer service that Bodycare was renowned for.
“We will continue to explore options for the Company’s assets, including the Bodycare brand, and will provide further updates in due course.”
The Redundancy Payments Service offers payments to workers who lose their jobs due to their employers becoming insolvent. However, payments are usually much lower than they would expect during normal redundancy.
Another Bodycare employee said: "We would like to know why this new company has been formed at the same time Bodycare is being wound up.
"We've carried on loyally working while bailiffs have been turning up and wages are being paid late and now we find the owners are preparing to start up again."
South Ribble’s Labour MP, Paul Foster, told The Lancashire Lead: “On Wednesday 17 September I met with a representative from Interpath, the administrators for G.R. & M.M. Blackledge plc, trading as Bodycare. We discussed the redundancy process in detail and I was reassured that all statutory payments to employees—including outstanding annual leave, notice periods and any wage arrears—will be honoured.
“The company pension scheme is also under review. This aspect is more complex and may take a little longer to resolve, but Interpath confirmed it is being actively examined.
“Former employees should already have received a letter from the administrators setting out the next steps. Using the information in that letter, they can claim any redundancy payments owed through the Government’s Redundancy Payment Service, quoting the case reference number CN10062792. If any former employees have not received this letter, please e-mail the employee relations team at bodycareemployees@interpath.com.
“Interpath will also conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bodycare’s collapse and will report their findings to the Insolvency Service. Should evidence of director misconduct emerge, the Insolvency Service has the power to seek disqualification from holding directorships in the future.
“I am grateful to the administrators for their prompt engagement and will continue to monitor developments closely to ensure that employees and pension holders receive the support and entitlements they deserve.
“My team and I are on hand to offer support and help signpost people to the services they may need.”
Mr Foster said for anyone affected locally, they can contact his office by calling 01772 364003 or emailing paul.foster.mp@parliament.uk.
The Lead made multiple attempts to speak to Baaj Capital but received no response by time of publication.
Recommended reading this week
🚧 A new-build estate in Darwen was evacuated on Sunday after a giant sinkhole appeared in the driveway of one of the new homes. Amy Fenton has this extensive report for LancsLive (literally looking into the sinkhole!) on what's been happening since.
🛍️ Market traders in Preston are fuming at having to move across the road. A letter from the city council says the need to shift for healthy and safety reasons (although temporary events will still take place in the same spot) until 2027 due to multi-million pound redevelopment works on the former court building nearby to convert it into a co-working and office hub. One trader, of 48 years on the market, has already announced he will quit the city and only trade at Chorley and Garstang Markets. Blog Preston has the details.
🧒From our national title, The Lead, there's a stark story about the choices women, and their partners, are making when it comes to the rising cost of childcare. Scarlet Hannington reports on strategic c-sections and a birthday date lottery when it comes to promises of funded childcare support despite the expansion of the 'free' childcare scheme in recent years. Scarlet’s also penned a very useful edition of The Lead Untangles looking at the cost of childcare.
Labour must ban fracking forever - campaigners urge government to honour manifesto pledge
By Paul Faulkner
Anti-fracking campaigners in Lancashire have urged the government to fulfil a manifesto pledge to ban the process “for good”.
It comes after the Liberal Democrats committed to outlawing the practice permanently, rather than just maintaining the current moratorium – or temporary halt – that was introduced in 2019 after concerns about fracking-induced earth tremors in Fylde.
The party’s annual conference approved a policy that would ban all new onshore coal, oil and gas exploration and production – which would include shale gas extraction from fracking. Labour said in its manifesto ahead of last year’s general election that it would implement a permanent fracking ban – but it has yet to be brought into law.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Lancashire Lead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.