BODY Shop co-chairman Anita Roddick will be stepping down after the chain she founded called a halt to takeover talks.

The group has been in on-off discussions with a range of potential buyers for about a year, but yesterday it ended the latest round and vowed to stay independent.

Director Adrian Bellamy said: "This process was not going to end in a satisfactory bid for the company, if indeed any bid was made, so it was decided it was time to terminate these talks and get on with running the business."

The decision has prompted a management shake-up, and Ms Roddick and her husband and co-chairman, Gordon, have both announced they are to step down. The pair will take non-executive roles.

Mr Roddick said he was "very pleased" the company was staying independent and added that neither he nor his wife, who has struck a two-year consultancy deal with the company, intended to sell their stake in the business.

As well as the departure of the Roddicks, who will be replaced as chairman by Mr Bellamy, Body Shop has also announced that chief executive Patrick Gournay has resigned by "mutual agreement".

He will leave in April, but Mr Bellamy denied the departure was linked to a failure to secure a takeover deal.

Mr Gournay will be replaced by Peter Saunders, chief executive and president of Body Shop in North America.

In recent months Body Shop, which is based in Littlehampton, West Sussex, has seen a slump in sales and profits and Mr Bellamy said the group would now focus on turning this round.

Ms Roddick opened the first Body Shop in Brighton in 1976, and the chain now has almost 2,000 stores worldwide, including 326 in the UK and Ireland.