After it obtained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange, share prices in the company increased dramatically, rising 10,944 percent in the first eight years.

[16] In 1987, Roddick paid the owners of the original Body Shop in the US, Peggy Short and Jane Saunders, US$3.5 million for the exclusive rights to the brand name.

[16] In September 1994, Business Ethics magazine published an investigative article entitled "Shattered Image: Is The Body Shop Too Good to Be True?

[20][21][22] Entine reported that Anita Roddick had copied the name, store design, marketing concept, and most product line ideas from the earlier American Body Shop.

[citation needed] Roddick stated that she believed the takeover could allow her to be a "Trojan Horse" within the larger company, working through the Body Shop to improve its standards on animal testing and environmental issues.

[32] However, following the sale, Aurelius experienced financial challenges and lapses during its due diligence, resulting in the departure of its managing director, who had spearheaded the deal.

[33][34] On 7 September 2024, the Body Shop was acquired by Auréa Group, a consortium led by Mike Jatania and Charles Denton, who became its executive chair and CEO, respectively.

[38][39] On 17 May 2024, FRP Advisory announced that the Body Shop's UK business and assets would be put up for auction after plans for a company voluntary arrangement fell through.

[40] On 16 February 2024, just one day after the UK division went insolvent, the Body Shop Germany collapsed into administration and announced that all 60 stores were to be closed within the coming months.

While the chain's 16 stores remained open, Body Shop NZ ceased to accept loyalty points and reduced the use of gift card funds.

[47][full citation needed] The multilevel marketing program was known as "the Body Shop Direct" in Britain and was first trialled in Australia in Gippsland in 1997.

The plaintiff, Nicole Suckling, worked in an administrative support role for the Body Shop at Home as an independent direct candle seller for the company PartyLite.

[55] Fair trade activists have criticised the programme: "The company...displayed claims...to pay fairer prices to the Third World poor but covered less than a fraction of 1 percent of its turnover", wrote Paul Vallely, the former chair of Traidcraft, in the obituary for Anita Roddick published in The Independent.

[57] As part of the Community Trade programme, the Body Shop undertook periodic social audits of its sourcing activities through Ecocert.

[58] A campaign by Christian Peacemaker Team protested the alleged role of the Body Shop in purchasing palm oil from Daabon, a third-party supplier in Colombia, who forcefully evicted 123 families from their land at Las Pavas on 14 July 2009.

[59][60] The Body Shop initially denied intentionally purchasing palm oil from the area[61] but later dropped Daabon as a supplier after the company failed to provide proof that it was not involved in the land seizures.

[65] In October 2009, the Body Shop received a lifetime achievement award from the RSPCA in Britain, in recognition of its uncompromised policy, which ensures ingredients are not tested on animals by its suppliers.

[67] The Roddicks founded the Body Shop Foundation in 1990, which supports innovative global projects working in the areas of human and civil rights and environmental and animal protection.