POUNDLAND FILES FOR ADMINISTRATION, THREATENING 12,000 JOBS

Poundland's board filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators last week, triggering the discount chain's collapse. The filing puts 12,000 jobs at direct risk across the chain's roughly 600 stores in the UK. Poundland founder Steve Smith, who no longer owns the company, said total job losses could reach 30,000 once the wider supply chain is included. "If Poundland closes down it will cost the taxpayers billions of pounds, as up to 30,000 people will have no job," Smith said.

The filing came only weeks after managing director Barry Williams told suppliers that trading was improving, at the start of Poundland's new financial year. In the note, Williams said sales growth had accelerated from 6.7% in September to 8.4% in the three weeks to 18 October. He described the performance as "encouraging," adding that takings and profits were "all running comfortably ahead of expectations." The note was intended to reassure companies within Poundland's supply chain about the retailer's trading position.

Smith said he had spent months trying to buy the company back. He said Gordon Brothers, the American firm that owns Poundland, had refused to negotiate with him. Smith accused the retailer's owners of "greed" as his effort to rescue the chain continued. The administration filing has been described as the worst UK retail collapse since Wilko entered administration in 2023.