Poundland has filed a notice of intention to appoint AlixPartners representatives as administrators, putting around 12,000 jobs at risk.
The filing, made on the afternoon of 29 October, gives the business an immediate ten-working-day legal moratorium, protecting it from creditor action while its advisers try to secure a rescue or sale. Pinsent Masons is handling the legal side of the filing.
Managing director Barry Williams said that “despite enormous efforts” a two-month formal sale process had not found an acceptable offer for the business as a whole. He said several established retail operators had made formal offers which “collectively cover a significant part of the business”. Stores remain open as normal.
How it got here
- June 2025: US investment firm Gordon Brothers buys Poundland from Pepco Group for £1. More than 100 stores are later closed as part of a restructuring.
- September 2026: Gordon Brothers launches a sale process, run by Alvarez & Marsal.
- October 2026: Poundland’s management names Irish firm Martin Property Group as its preferred bidder for a solvent sale. Gordon Brothers rejects the offer.
- 15 October: Three independent directors, Andrew Kirkpatrick, Stephen Welch and Dominic Young, join the board to oversee the sale. Days later they resign after disagreeing with the decision not to accept the solvent offer.
- 28 October: Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds writes to Gordon Brothers asking for an update on the company’s position.
- 29 October: Poundland files the notice of intention.
In a memo to staff before the filing, Williams said the situation was “unexpected, unwanted and wholly avoidable”, and that Gordon Brothers had cut off a key source of funding despite strong trading.
Interested buyers
Wilko and The Range owner CDS Superstores, Poundstretcher owner Fortress and TG Jones owner Modella are reported to be interested in parts of the business.
Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has called on the government to “do everything it can to save 11,000 jobs, which are mainly done by women and part-time workers”.
Poundland trades from around 600 stores in the UK and runs the Dealz chain in Ireland.
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