Anita Roddick biography -
Founder of The Body Shop

Anita Roddick was born Anita Perella in Littlehampton in Sussex on October 23, 1942. She was the third of four children to Gilda and Donny Perella who were the owners of the Clifton Cafe. It was in their parents business where these children would learn their strong work ethic.

When she returned to Littlehampton, her mother introduced her to a fellow by the name of Gordon Roddick. The bond was instant and they got married in 1971 and ran their own restaurant and later hotel in Littlehampton.

Her husband had set off on a trek across the Americas (on horseback) and Anita had to provide for their two daughters. She opened a cosmetic shop in Brighton by the name of The Body Shop. The shop was painted green - "to cover the damp spots," in her words - and had a strong environmental flavour. They had 15 products that she had made herself, which was based on the cleansing rituals of women that she had experienced on her travels. The finance for the shop came from the bank with the hotel as collateral.

By the time her husband returned from his 10-month trek, she had already opened a second store - she had made a deal with Ian McGlinn for a £4000 loan for half the business. Family and friends ran the first few shops. However, the demand for her shops and products were great, so they set up a franchise system for The Body Shop even though franchising was a relatively new concept in the UK at the time.

From these humble beginnings, The Body Shop grew and then went public in 1984. Today, The Body Shop has over 1980 stores, more than 77 million customers, in 50 different markets and serving customers in over 25 different languages.

When Anita was 10 she had discovered a book about the Holocaust and this had a significant impact on her and influenced her to empathize with the human condition. She has gone on to become one of the most prominent and well respected social entrepreneurs in the world. Not only has she a strong sense of social responsibility, she has also ingrained these into her company values. As far as her social engagements go, she had the following to say, "We go wherebusinesses never want to because they don't think it is the role of business to get involved."Maybe you are thinking that you will also become 'socially responsible' once you are wealthy. This is not what she advises, instead she says, "If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." Yes, Anita Roddick used her wealth and reputation to advance causes she believes in and admire her for that. Not only has she kept her feet on the ground, she has grown her roots far and wide and are willing to take a stand for fledgling causes. Anita Roddick is definitely a social entrepreneur to admire.

Anita Roddick books