Poundland shuts 149 shops, cuts 2,200 jobs and focuses on £1 objects

[ad_1] Poundland has shut 149 shops with the lack of 2,200 jobs below a rescue shake-up launched after difficult buying and selling situations and unpopular clothes ranges despatched it into the crimson.

The corporate, which was itself purchased for £1 from Pepco Group by the US restructuring specialist Gordon Brothers in June final 12 months, mentioned it had refocused on £1 objects, with 60% of its inventory now at that worth.

Additionally it is relaunching its Pep & Co clothes model after a swap to ranges provided by its former mum or dad group hit gross sales. Grownup clothes will probably be in shops by the top of this month, with youngsters’s and child put on arriving in February.

Poundland mentioned underlying income had greater than doubled to £17.3m within the three months to twenty-eight December in contrast with the identical interval a 12 months earlier than. The variety of objects bought was up 2% however gross sales at established shops fell 2.9%, even excluding classes it not sells.

The closures are a part of a restructure first introduced final June after the retailer dived to a £51m pre-tax loss in 2024. The plans included shutting no less than 68 shops and as much as 80 extra, reducing rents, stopping on-line gross sales, ditching its Perks loyalty app, and not providing frozen and most chilled meals.

Poundland’s frozen and digital distribution centre at Darton, South Yorkshire, and its nationwide distribution centre at Springvale in Bilston, West Midlands, have now closed, whereas two different distribution centres, in Wigan and Harlow, proceed to function.

The corporate, which was based in 1990 with its first retailer in Burton upon Trent, has confronted a troublesome buying and selling interval lately amid rising prices on enterprise charges, power, workers and heavy competitors from the likes of The Vary, B&M Residence Bargains, Savers in addition to supermarkets and low worth on-line specialists akin to Temu and Shein.

There has already been some consolidation within the low cost retail sector together with the demise of the key participant Wilko in 2023, which was left with just a few shops after The Vary snapped up the model.

Poundland’s rival, Poundstretcher, was purchased in 2024 by Majestic Wine’s proprietor, Fortress. One other rival, Poundworld, closed its 350 shops in 2018 and Poundland purchased its rival 99p Shops in 2015.

Barry Williams, the managing director of Poundland, mentioned the numerous retailer closures had been now completed, including: “We now have clear indications from the work we’ve already accomplished, that we’re heading in the right direction.

“Whereas there’s been vital progress as we re-focus and re-energise the enterprise with decrease costs and a sharper provide, we all know we nonetheless have a lot to do. Our deal with our prices has, doubtless, given us a platform for future progress, however no sustainable turnaround may be primarily based on value administration alone.”

He mentioned prospects had indicated that they wished a less complicated provide which “retains its promise of wonderful worth … That’s why our focus in 2026 will probably be on delivering the sort of ranges and worth simplicity our prospects need proper throughout the shop – in clothes, homewares in addition to our core grocery aisles.”

Gordon Brothers, a former proprietor of Laura Ashley, mentioned it will make investments as much as £80m in Poundland to assist flip the enterprise round.