The Body Shop Foundation has announced that it will close next year after failing to agree a new funding agreement with its main funder - The Body Shop International. 

The grantmaker posted a statement on its website announcing that will close next year after turning down a funding offer from the company, which it intimated was because the deal on offer threatened its independence. 

The company has said it will now set up a new foundation. 

Dame Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon Roddick, who founded the Body Shop International, launched the foundation nearly 30 years ago and the charity has been primarily funded by The Body Shop. 

Income declined under new owners

The Body Shop was sold to L’oreal in 2006 for £652m, and since then the charity has seen a decline in its income. 

Over 27 years the foundation has made grants totalling £24m to mainly environmental and animal causes. 

Its most recent full year accounts, for the year ending February 2015 show it had an income of £770,000. 

It changed its annual year end to From February to December to align with the company and its income for the ten months to December 2015 was £450,000. 

Its 2006 accounts show it had an income of £1.2m. At its peak in 2004 it had in income of almost £2m. 

Independence 

Trustees of the charity said that its founders had been clear about the need for the charity to be independent of the company to “support those that the company could not”.

In a statement on the website they stressed that its “flexible” approach “allowed us to be nimble and quick, funding cutting edge, dynamic and undercover work on issues relevant and current to us all”.

They said: “Unfortunately, despite our history and impact our lengthy conversations with the current management of The Body Shop have not resulted in a shared vision for the independent future of the Foundation. 

“A committed funding stream has not been agreed, nor has a fundraising product been put in place for us in 2017.

“This means that Foundation is now unsustainable as the independent organisation that our founders envisaged. This is why, sadly – and to quote The Body Shop themselves, ‘…we’ve been unable to align our future’.”

New charity 

The Body Shop launched a new global sustainability project earlier this year and said it had “invited The Body Shop Foundation to work with us in a new way” because the new plan means it needs to “think differently and more radically and creatively than before across the full range of our activities, including our philanthropic efforts”. 

It has now said it will set up a new foundation to carry out its philanthropic activity, which it said will also be known as The Body Shop Foundation.  

The company said: “We have been proud to fund, support and raise awareness for The Body Shop Foundation’s work over the past 27 years. It has made a fantastic and lasting contribution to many wonderful charitable causes, donating over £24m to more than 2,600 groups, projects and issues.

“Over the years, countless numbers of our employees have donated their time, energy and effort to support the Foundation’s activities through volunteering. We have been inspired by the Foundation and all who have worked in its dedicated team. We wish them all the very best for the future.”