The firm in charge of selling The Body Shop in the UK has set a deadline for buyers to submit bids in a race to save 1,500 jobs.
The BBC understands that FRP Advisory, which is overseeing the sale, has asked firms to make an offer by next Tuesday.
The Body Shop still operates 112 stores in the UK after Aurelius, a private equity firm, put the company into administration in February only a few months after buying it.
There have been 75 expressions of interest in The Body Shop but it is understood that Aurelius is not among the bidders.
Prior to administration, The Body Shop employed 2,200 people and had 198 stores in the UK.