The Opportunity
A brand embedded in British culture, the new owner of The Body Shop in Sheffield can concentrate on making a profit from a solid base.
The Sheffield store has significant opportunities for growth that should transform it from a business into one that regularly makes at least £100,000 in annual profits.
The current owner pays a manager’s salary, so a new owner-operator can immediately save around £30,000 by managing the store themselves.
The closure of the direct-sales network The Body Shop At Home should ensure that many more of its loyal customers come into the Sheffield store instead, joining the growing number of office workers who are coming back to the city centre after years of working from home.
There is also an opportunity to sub-let the first floor of the premises (permission is in place) to another business which could dramatically reduce rent and rates, again adding to profits and the lucrative future that awaits the new buyer.
Heritage
The Body Shop Sheffield is a destination store for many of the half million or so people who live in the city, among them 65,000 students who embrace its ethics and values.
Founder Dame Anita Roddick was decades ahead of her time, disrupting the global beauty business by offering, for the first time, cruelty-free cosmetics that hadn’t been tested on animals.
She paid her overseas suppliers fairly and campaigned for many causes including the environment, which generated fierce and often life-long brand loyalty.
That legacy will be enjoyed by the new owner of The Body Shop Sheffield, in smart premises in a city centre square that’s just had half a million pounds spent on it.
This rare opportunity to take on an established business with lucrative potential has only arisen because the current owner lives too far from Sheffield and couldn’t take over the reins from the retiring manager.
Summary
Managing The Body Shop Sheffield yourself instead of employing another manager will save £30,000 a year instantly, while sub-letting the floor above to another business will reduce rent and rates, and footfall to this destination store is increasing steadily as work-from-homers return to their city centre offices.
Those savings, and shrewd management, could see the business transform into one that regularly makes at least £100,000 in profit.
