Anita Roddick

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Dame Anita Roddick DBE (b. Anita Perella on 23 October 1942 in Littlehampton, Sussex, England, UK) is the founder of The Body Shop, a cosmetics company dedicated to producing and retailing ethical beauty products. She founded the business in her birthplace of Littlehampton, England, in 1976.

She was born to an Italian immigrant family. Her mother ran a café, and was in the habit of recycling. After leaving school, Anita trained as a teacher and travelled widely before her mother introduced her to Gordon Roddick, whom she married in 1970. The couple opened a restaurant, followed by a hotel. By the time they married, they already had one child and were expecting another.

Before 1976, Anita Roddick worked for the United Nations where she travelled extensively and met people from a number of different cultures. The first Body Shop was basic and at first sold only 15 lines. The Body Shop's full range now has over 300 products.

Roddick opened the first Body Shop with the aim of making an income for herself and her two daughters, while her husband was away in the United States. Her idea was to exploit some of the ideas she had formed while travelling around the world. She opened her second shop six months later. On Gordon's return, he joined the business. By 1991 the Body Shop had 700 branches and Roddick was awarded the 1991 World Vision Award for Development Initiative

In 1990 Roddick founded Children On The Edge, a charitable organisation which helps disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe and Asia. ^[1]

Roddick is known for her campaigning work on environmental issues and is a member of the Demos think tank's advisory council.

By 2004, the Body Shop had 1980 stores, serving over 77 million customers throughout the world. The Body Shop was voted the second most trusted brand in the United Kingdom, and 28th top brand in the world. In 2003, Roddick was knighted by the Queen, and is known as Dame Anita Roddick.

On 13 December 2005, the National Post reported that Roddick has decided to turn her back on the world of commerce and give away her fortune, worth some £51 million ($104 million). An interview with the Guardian confirms this.^[2]

On 17 March 2006, L'Oreal purchased Body Shop for £652.3 million (as reported by The Independent). This has caused controversy, partly because L'Oreal is said to be involved in animal testing, and partly because it is said to be part-owned by Nestlé. While Roddick has been a strong campaigner on ethical issues, Nestlé has been the subject of a long standing boycott call for its marketing of baby milk powder in third world countries. The organisation trades in 41 countries and employs around 6000 people, either directly or in franchises.

[edit] Selected awards

1984 - Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year
1988 - Order of the British Empire
1991 - Center for World Development Education's World Vision Award, USA
1993 - Banksia Foundation's Australia Environmental Award
1993 - Mexican Environmental Achiever Award
1993 - National Audubon Society Medal, USA
1994 - Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics, USA
1994 - University of Michigan's Annual Business Leadership Award, USA
1995 - Women's Business Development Center's First Annual Woman Power Award, USA
1996 - Women's Center's Leadership Award, USA
1996 - The Gleitsman Foundation's Award of Achievement, USA
1997 - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Honouree, Eyes on the Environment
1999 - British Environment & Media Award
1999 - Chief Wiper-Away of Ogoni Tears, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, Nigeria
2001 - International Peace Prayer Day Organisation's Woman of Peace
2003 - DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire)

[edit] Bibliography

Roddick, Anita - The Body Shop Book - Macdonald, 1985 (ISBN 0-356-10934-8)
Roddick, Anita - Mamatoto: the Body Shop Celebration of Birth - Virago, 1991 (ISBN 1-85381-421-0)
Roddick, Anita - Troubled Water: Saints, Sinners, Truth and Lies about the Global Water Crisis - Anita Roddick Books, 2004 (ISBN 0-9543959-3-X) (with Brooke Shelby Biggs)
Roddick, Anita - Business as Unusual - Anita Roddick Books, 2005 (ISBN 0-9543959-5-6) (Latest edition)