Poundland is set to shut another 12 stores across the UK today amid a nationwide restructure.
Founded in 1990, the popular high street chain is known for primarily selling £1 products at hundreds of sites located across the UK.
In June, the discount shop chain’s owner, Polish firm Pepco Group, sold the struggling business to US-based Gordon Brothers for a ‘nominal fee’ of just £1.
The investment firm, which used to own textile brand Laura Ashley, said it would inject up to £80million into restructuring the company.
Now, in a desperate bid to save the chain, the discount shop have announced that more than a dozen stores will close on August 24, while a nationwide closing down sale has also been launched, with prices reduced by up to 75 per cent.
It comes after the retail store announced that 48 branches would be closing their doors to customers across August alone while nearly 70 Poundland stores will close by mid-October – nearly ten per cent of the estimated total network of 800.
The shutters have already come down on 25 of these ill-fated branches this month, with a further 12 set to close today.
This is then set to be followed by an additional 11 closures by August 31 as part of a company-wide restructure, subject to a High Court hearing scheduled for August 26.
Poundland is set to shut another 12 stores across the UK today. A nationwide closing down sale has also been launched, with prices reduced by up to 75 per cent (file image)
It comes after the retail store announced that 48 branches would be closing their doors to customers across August alone while nearly 70 Poundland stores will close by mid-October – nearly ten per cent of the estimated total network of 800 (file image)
The discount shop chain’s owner, Polish firm Pepco Group, sold the struggling business in June to US-based Gordon Brothers for a ‘nominal fee’ of just £1 (file image)
The 15 stores which closed for business on August 17 include the branch in Bedford, Stafford, Worcestor and Dartmouth.
Poundland’s retail director Darren MacDonald insisted that the chain is working towards achieving a ‘sizeable’ network of around 650-700 stores in the restructuring.
He added: ‘It is of course, sincerely regrettable that we’re closing a number of stores to allow us to get us back on track.
‘We entirely understand how disappointing it will be for customers when a store nearby closes but we look forward to continuing to welcome them to one of our other locations.
‘Work is underway to with colleagues through a formal consultation process in stores scheduled to close, exploring any suitable alternative roles.’
Under the cost-cutting restructure plans, Gordon Brothers’ arealso set to close its frozen and digital distribution site at Darton in South Yorkshire later this year.
The new owners also plan to close Poundland’s national distribution warehouse at Springvale in Bilston, West Midlands, early next year.
Deliveries are instead going to be ‘absorbed’ into its existing distribution centres at Wigan in Greater Manchester and Harlow in Essex, according to the company.
The shutters have already come down on 25 of these ill-fated branches this month, with a further 12 set to close today. This is then set to be followed by an additional 11 closures by August 31 as part of a company-wide restructure (file image)
Announcing Poundland’s restructuring plan in June, Barry William(pictured), managing director of Poundland, said: ‘It’s no secret that we have much work to do to get Poundland back on track’
Poundland will also stop selling frozen food in stores where it is currently available.
There will also be a reduction in the chilled food available which will instead ‘be anchored around its market-leading £3 meal deal and other essentials such as milk’.
The Poundland.co.uk website is also set to be converted ‘from a transactional website to a brand website’, and there will be a ‘retirement’ of its Perks app.
In addition, there will also be a ‘greater depth’ of womenswear in the clothing range and the return of ‘key seasonal general merchandise ranges’ as well as the ‘restoration of product categories customers have missed’.
On top of the closures, Gordon Brothers’ restructuring plans will also involve negotiating rent reductions at certain store locations.
For instance, while one Poundland store in Canterbury, Kent, is sadly due to close, the city’s other branch, on St George’s Street, has reopened.
It shut down on July 23, not as part of the list of 68 set to close amid the restructuring – but opened its doors again on August 1 after a new lease agreement was secured.
Announcing Poundland’s restructuring plan in June, Barry Williams, managing director of Poundland, said: ‘It’s no secret that we have much work to do to get Poundland back on track.
Poundland’s retail director Darren MacDonald insisted that the chain is working towards achieving a ‘sizeable’ network of around 650-700 stores in the restructuring. He added: ‘It is of course, sincerely regrettable that we’re closing a number of stores’ (file image)
In May, Poundland reported revenues dropped by 6.5 per cent to €985million euros (£830million) for the six months to March, compared with a year earlier. The brand suffered ‘challenges across all categories’ and had 18 net store closures over the period (file image)
‘While Poundland remains a strong brand, serving 20million-plus shoppers each year, our performance for a significant period has fallen short of our high standards and action is needed to enable the business to return to growth.
‘It’s sincerely regrettable that this plan includes the closure of stores and distribution centres, but it’s necessary if we’re to achieve our goal of securing the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of stores.
‘It goes without saying that if our plans are approved, we will do all we can to support colleagues who will be directly affected by the changes.’
In May, Poundland reported revenues dropped by 6.5 per cent to €985million euros (£830million) for the six months to March, compared with a year earlier.
The brand suffered ‘challenges across all categories’ and had 18 net store closures over the period.
Poundland went under the hammer in March, with its previous owners Pepco putting it on the market after issues with sales.
The firm reported a 6.5 per cent drop in the chain’s revenue, which sunk to £830million for the six months to March, versus the previous year.
Pepco blamed the decline on ‘highly challenging trading conditions’, with the franchise struggling to make sales in all product categories.
Some 18 stores closed in this period.
The mass closures come as Britain’s high streets have been warned there is ‘worse to come’ this year after more than 13,000 shops closed their doors for good in 2024 – an increase of 28 per cent on the year before.
In another gloomy report, industry experts predicted that 17,350 shops will shut down this year.
It is the highest figure since the Centre for Retail Research began collecting the data in 2015 and follows the closure of 13,479 stores last year.
