Political Audit - The Body Shop

Domain: Political - Political Entity scope: The Body Shop cosmetics retailer (founded 1976, Brighton); current parent Auréa Group (from September 2024) and prior owners L’Oréal (2006–2017) and Natura &Co (2017–2023) documented and attributed at parent/prior-owner level unless acts are brand-specific. Compiled: 2026-06-25 Method: Live web search only

Corporate Structure & Primary Mission

The Body Shop is a British cosmetics and personal-care retailer founded in Brighton in 1976 by Anita Roddick. It pioneered the integration of ethical consumerism, fair-trade sourcing, and social activism into a commercial retail model.¹ The company operates across 70+ markets globally, primarily through a franchise network.²

Ownership has changed four times since 2006:

• L’Oréal acquired the brand in March 2006 for £652.3 million - attributed to L’Oréal as prior owner.
• Natura &Co acquired the brand in September 2017 for £880 million - attributed to Natura &Co as prior owner.
• Aurelius Group (German private equity) acquired the brand in November 2023 for £207 million. The UK division was placed into administration on 15 February 2024; dozens of UK stores closed and hundreds of jobs were lost. - attributed to Aurelius Group as prior owner; relevant as context for ownership instability.
• Auréa Group (consortium led by Mike Jatania and Paul Raphaël) completed acquisition of The Body Shop brand and trademarks on 7 September 2024.³ This is the current parent entity. Auréa describes itself as a specialist private equity firm focused on beauty, wellness and longevity.⁴

The brand’s stated mission is ethical beauty with activism embedded in its operations. Its corporate website proclaims activism is “in our DNA.”⁵ The Body Shop Foundation (charitable arm) historically funded human rights and environmental campaigns. As of 2019, The Body Shop held B Corp certification (score 82.6/200) awarded during the Natura period;⁶ that certification was placed under review in May 2024 following the change of ownership and subsequent administration, and its current status as of this audit is unconfirmed.⁷

Executive & Leadership Footprint

Current leadership (post-September 2024, Auréa period):

• Mike Jatania - Executive Chairman from September 2024; appointed CEO in July 2025, succeeding Charles Denton. Jatania co-founded Auréa Group and is former owner of the Lornamead personal-care group, with approximately 35 years of experience in the consumer-goods/cosmetics industry.⁸
• Charles Denton - Served as CEO September 2024 – July 2025 through the stabilisation phase, departing after completing his mandate.⁸
• Paul Raphaël - Co-founder of Auréa Group alongside Jatania; former executive vice-chairman at UBS and Managing Director at Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch.⁴

No public evidence identified of any leadership figure at The Body Shop (post-Auréa acquisition) making statements on the Israel-Gaza conflict or engaging in conflict-related political activity.

Historical leadership (brand-specific, pre-acquisition):

• Adrian Bellamy - Executive Chairman during the L’Oréal ownership period. In September 2004 he wrote to ADL National Director Abraham Foxman stating the company would take “as balanced an approach as possible” on future company honours, and issuing a corporate apology for any offence caused by the 2002 Human Rights Award to a Palestinian group (see Corporate Communications section).⁹

Operations in Occupied or Contested Territories

Pisgat Ze’ev franchise (East Jerusalem settlement), c. 2005

In June 2005, Israeli peace organisation Gush Shalom sent a formal letter to Body Shop founder Anita Roddick documenting that a “Body Shop” outlet had leased retail space at the Hapisga Shopping Mall in Pisgat Ze’ev, a settlement built on land in East Jerusalem captured by Israel in June 1967 and annexed in a move not recognised by any other state. The lease was reported in the Ha’aretz business section (10 June 2005): 52 square metres at USD 36 per month, with a three-year extension option.¹⁰ Gush Shalom characterised Pisgat Ze’ev as established in the 1980s as a “broad Jewish wedge” to fragment Palestinian territorial continuity, built on confiscated Palestinian land, and called on The Body Shop to terminate the lease.¹⁰

Licensing caveat (cross-domain). Whether this store was operated by The Body Shop International (or a genuine licensee of it) or by the separately-controlled Israeli “Body Shop” operation associated with Fischer Pharmaceuticals - which ran 21–45 outlets in Israel under that name - is unresolved; the relationship between the Israeli “Body Shop” chain and The Body Shop International is not established in the public record (see the Economic audit’s analysis of the Fischer Pharmaceuticals question and the 1987 US/Japan/Israel trademark acquisition). Gush Shalom’s 2005 letter was addressed to Roddick on the assumption that The Body Shop International bore responsibility, but that assumption is not independently corroborated. If the Israeli “Body Shop” stores operated under a licence from The Body Shop International, this settlement-mall lease is an in-scope finding; if they were a separately-branded Israeli operation, it is not attributable to the brand-floor entity.

No public evidence identified of a formal corporate response from The Body Shop to the Gush Shalom letter, nor confirming when or whether the outlet closed. A 2010 monitoring survey of businesses in the Pisgat Ze’ev mall does not list The Body Shop among active tenants at that date.¹¹ This is consistent with - but does not confirm - an exit between 2005 and 2010.

Jurisdictional note: Pisgat Ze’ev is located in East Jerusalem, which Israel formally annexed (an act not recognised under international law). It is distinct from the West Bank (Areas A/B/C) but is considered occupied territory under the UN and the International Court of Justice.

Community Fair Trade supplier: Nablus, West Bank (historical claim, unverified)

Some activist commentary and aggregator sites allege The Body Shop employed Palestinian women through a fair-trade olive-oil supplier in Nablus, West Bank. The Body Shop’s official Community Fair Trade page (fetched directly) lists only three suppliers: Tungteiya Women’s Association (Ghana), Get Paper Industry (Nepal), and Plastics for Change (India).¹² No Palestinian or Middle Eastern supplier is listed on the live official page. The Nablus supplier claim could not be corroborated against a primary source and is marked UNVERIFIED.

Israeli “Body Shop” confusion

A separate entity trading as “Body Shop” exists in Israel. Multiple sources - including The Body Shop brand’s own representatives - have stated this is an unaffiliated business causing consumer confusion, and that The Body Shop (the British brand) has no stores in Israel.¹³ No franchise agreement between The Body Shop International and an Israeli operator is publicly documented (see Economic audit).

Brand Heritage & State Partnerships

UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth partnership (“Be Seen Be Heard”)

In May 2022, The Body Shop launched a formal global collaboration with the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth under the “Be Seen Be Heard” initiative, running across 75 countries and over 2,600 stores until mid-2025.¹⁴ Campaign goals included lowering the voting age, protecting the right to protest, and amplifying youth voices in climate decisions, and it claimed contributions to lowering Malaysia’s voting age and to amendments to the UK Public Order Bill.¹⁴¹⁵ This is a state-adjacent partnership but with no conflict-territory dimension identified.

British Beauty Council patronage

In early 2026, The Body Shop (under Auréa ownership) joined the British Beauty Council as a patron.¹⁶ No conflict-related dimension identified.

Historical: Gulf War opposition (1991)

Under Anita Roddick’s leadership, The Body Shop publicly opposed the 1991 Gulf War, with Roddick initiating a company-wide protest stance widely noted as politically contentious at the time.¹⁷ No evidence identified of any similar institutional campaign regarding the post-2023 Gaza war under Natura, Aurelius, or Auréa ownership.

Historical: Anti-Iraq-war editorial (2003)

After selling her shares in 2003, Anita Roddick - no longer a controlling shareholder - stated she regretted that The Body Shop did not campaign against the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, and published an editorial on the subject.¹⁸ This is attributed to Roddick personally post-exit, not to the corporate entity.

Lobbying, Advocacy, Financing & Logistics

The Body Shop Human Rights Award - 2002 Palestinian recipient

The Body Shop created a biennial Human Rights Award in 2000, disbursing USD 300,000 shared among four organisations per cycle. In 2002, one of the four recipients was the National Committee for the Defence of the Rights of the Internally Displaced in Israel (also identified in sources as ADRID / Association for the Defence of the Rights of the Internally Displaced). The other three recipients were from Honduras, Kenya, and Bulgaria, focused on housing and indigenous rights.¹⁹ An award ceremony was held in London in October 2002.²⁰

The Palestinian recipient organisation advocates for the “right of return” for internally displaced Palestinians.²⁰ Its award received brief parliamentary recognition via a UK Early Day Motion in the 2002–03 session congratulating the Body Shop Human Rights Award Committee.²¹

A Los Angeles-based Jewish community boycott campaign launched in August 2004 targeted The Body Shop over this award, and subsequently brought the 2001 UAE Palestine fundraiser to wider attention. Corporate response: Executive Chairman Adrian Bellamy wrote to ADL National Director Abraham Foxman in September 2004 stating the company would take “as balanced an approach as possible” on future honours, that The Body Shop had “not promoted a broader agenda for a ‘right of return’,” and that “we sincerely apologize if we have caused offense.”⁹ The company removed award images from its website but did not withdraw the award itself; the Human Rights Award was subsequently placed under review and discontinued.⁹

UAE franchise fundraiser “A Day for Palestine” (2001)

The Body Shop’s seven UAE franchise outlets held an “A Day for Palestine” charity event, donating one day’s revenues to Palestinian communities via the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation.²² Separately, The Body Shop’s corporate headquarters stated this event was organised by local franchisees who had authority to create their own charity events without central management approval.⁹

No public evidence identified of equivalent charitable fundraising directed at Palestinian or Israeli causes by The Body Shop brand under Aurelius (2023–2024) or Auréa (2024–present) ownership.

No public evidence identified of The Body Shop being registered as a lobbying entity with the UK Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists or any equivalent regulatory body, in relation to Israel/Palestine or any other conflict issue.

Corporate Communications & Public Stance

Conflict-period silence (2023–2025 Gaza war)

No public evidence identified of any official statement, social-media post, or public communication by The Body Shop brand - under any of its recent owners (Natura up to November 2023; Aurelius November 2023–September 2024; Auréa from September 2024) - specifically addressing the Gaza war that began in October 2023 or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The brand’s communications during this period focused on the administration crisis, the Auréa rescue and restructuring, the “Be Seen Be Heard” youth-democracy campaign, B Corp certification concerns, and general retail operations.

TikTok boycott controversy (2023–2024)

A social-media-driven boycott campaign against The Body Shop emerged on TikTok following the October 2023 outbreak of the Gaza war, with the hashtag #BoycottTheBodyShop trending in multiple countries. The primary driver was confusion over The Body Shop’s former ownership by L’Oréal, which maintains Israeli operations (attributed to L’Oréal as former owner, not to The Body Shop corporate). The Body Shop’s representatives, when approached at a brand event, stated that the company “does not belong on that boycott list” as it is no longer owned by L’Oréal and operates no stores in Israel.¹³ No formal press statement on the boycott has been publicly identified. The campaign pre-dates the Auréa acquisition (September 2024) and overlapped with the Aurelius administration period, during which the company’s communications capacity was constrained by the insolvency process.

Activist brand identity under Auréa

The post-rescue brand strategy under Auréa emphasises returning to the brand’s founding activist heritage. Mike Jatania’s September 2024 acquisition statement committed to honouring “its pioneering heritage in ethical beauty.”⁴ No conflict-specific activism was announced. The brand’s current activism page promotes the “Be Seen Be Heard” youth-democracy campaign and a renewed focus on gender equality.⁵

Internal Governance, Content & Retail Policies

B Corp certification: The Body Shop achieved B Corp certification in 2019 (score 82.6/200) under Natura ownership.⁶ Following the change of ownership to Aurelius and the February 2024 administration, B Lab launched a public complaints review in May 2024.⁷ B Lab’s process requires large enterprises to recertify within two years of an ownership change to maintain certification. The current status of The Body Shop’s B Corp certification (as of June 2026) is unconfirmed in publicly available sources; the certification was under active review at the time of the most recent sources identified.

Community Fair Trade programme: The Body Shop’s Community Fair Trade programme - launched by Anita Roddick in 1987 as “Trade Not Aid” - is a long-standing supply-chain ethics initiative. The official live programme page lists suppliers in Ghana, Nepal, and India.¹² No supplier relationship with Israeli, Palestinian, or occupied-territory-based entities is disclosed on the official programme page. Under Auréa, the programme’s continuation and scope have not been publicly detailed.

No public evidence identified of any internal policy specifically governing employee communications, content, or retail operations in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict. No public evidence identified of employee activism, walkouts, or internal governance disputes on the conflict at The Body Shop.

Franchise autonomy and political risk: The 2001 UAE “Day for Palestine” event and the c.2005 Pisgat Ze’ev lease both illustrate that The Body Shop’s franchise model historically allowed local franchisees to engage in politically sensitive acts - in both directions - with limited or no prior corporate approval (and, in the Pisgat Ze’ev case, with the operating entity’s relationship to The Body Shop International itself unresolved). No public evidence identified of post-2024 policy changes tightening franchise oversight of political or charitable activity.

End Notes