Anita Roddick RIP

Very sad news today that Body Shop founder Anita Roddick died last night at the age of 64.

I never met her personally, but I have spoken to several people who had worked for her at different times. "Force of Nature" seems to sum her up on many different levels - her unwavering commitment to the environment and trade justice, and her personality and business style. Rumours abound of multiple teams of Body Shop staff doing the same project because she had simply forgotten she had already asked someone to do it. She was also withering to anyone who dared question her or her business's integrity.

But none of this detracts from her colossal achievement - to put a 'green' business emporium on almost every high street across the Western world, mainstreaming environmental and ethical concerns into the life of the ordinary consumer. No one has done it since.