The Body Shop, which has eight Kent stores, has gone into administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk across the country.

Branches are thought to be staying open as usual for the time being while administrators FRP consider options moving forward.

The Kent locations include two in Ashford, one at Greenhithe’s Bluewater Shopping Centre, one at Hempstead Valley in Gillingham, one in Canterbury, one in Maidstone, one in Tunbridge Wells and one at Westwood Cross Shopping Centre in Thanet.

The Body Shop, which has more than 200 shops across the UK, filed a notice to appoint administrators late on Monday.

Insolvency experts are lined up to oversee the process.

The administrators are expected to seek buyers for the business and its assets, but the process will nonetheless cast a shadow over the future of its stores and workforce.

The retailer was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon as one of the first companies to promote so-called ethical consumerism, focusing on ethically produced cosmetics and skincare products.

It comes only weeks after new owners, European private equity firm Aurelius, took control of the business.

Aurelius, which specialises in buying and turning around troubled firms, secured a £207 million deal in November to buy the Body Shop from Brazilian cosmetics giant Natura & Co.