Blue plaque for Anita Roddick

Blue plaque outside 22 Kensington Gardens

Photo by Ruth Goodall

Anita Roddick

Gordon Roddick with members of the Roddick family

Photo by Ruth Goodall

The Body Shop started in Kensington Gardens

By Jackie Fuller, North Laine resident

Anita Roddick's husband Gordon, together with family and friends and several North Laine residents, gathered in Kensington Gardens on Thursday 3rd July 2008 to unveil a blue plaque marking the shop in which Anita started her Body Shop empire in 1976, the same year the North Laine Community Association itself started. Her shop was at No 22. An informal ceremony was held and the new plaque was then revealed.

During 1976/77 The Body Shop advertised regularly in the North Laine Runner. Then in Nov/Dec 1992 Anita sponsored a special two-coloured edition of the Runner to celebrate its 100th edition. In the subsequent issue (Jan/Feb 1993) she wrote an article for us with some of her memories of the early days.

Sadly Anita died in September 2007 aged only 64 and in her memory we reproduced her article in the Sept/Oct 2007 issue of the Runner (No 188). It is now on this website in the People section. Anita Roddick also has her name on a bus.