Court documents show Poundland filed its notice of intention to appoint administrators on the afternoon of 29 October, giving it 10 working days of protection from creditors. Poundland’s managing director says no acceptable offer for the whole business has been found, and reports name CDS Superstores, Fortress and Modella as parties interested in parts of the chain.
Poundland operates around 600 shops across the UK, including almost 50 in Scotland, according to STV, and Nation.Cymru counted 28 Welsh branches from September location data. More than 100 shops closed over the past year as part of a turnaround programme, Nation.Cymru reported. Poundland says all its shops remain open and trading as normal. Gordon Brothers bought the chain for £1 last year and launched a sale process at the beginning of September.
What the filing says
STV reports that court documents show the notice of intention was filed, and that it gives the company ten working days’ protection from creditors while efforts to secure a rescue deal continue. Nation.Cymru says the same, noting that the company filed the notice on Thursday afternoon. AlixPartners is understood to be in line to act as administrator, and STV says advisers from the firm have reportedly been appointed to oversee the process and assess bids for all or parts of the business. A notice of intention is a step before an appointment.
Ten days or ten working days
The BBC describes the pause on creditors as 10 days, while STV and Nation.Cymru say ten working days. The reports differ, and the exact length depends on the court filing, which was not reviewed here.
Management statement and named bidders
Barry Williams, Poundland’s managing director, said “despite enormous efforts” it had not been possible to identify an acceptable offer for the business as a whole. He added that the process has attracted several established retail operators that have made formal offers, which collectively cover a significant part of the business. Nation.Cymru and STV say the parties understood to be interested in parts of the chain are CDS Superstores, the owner of Wilko and The Range, Fortress, owner of Poundstretcher, and Modella, owner of TG Jones. Nation.Cymru adds that any deals are unlikely to include every shop.
The union and the sale process
STV reports that Usdaw national officer Bally Auluk said the decision not to accept what he described as a solvent offer from Martin Property Group increased the likelihood of administration, and that general secretary Joanne Thomas called on the UK government to intervene, saying around 11,000 jobs were at stake.
STV adds that it is understood the Martin Property Group offer was not fully funded and involved deferred payments. Gordon Brothers has said both whole-business and partial-sale options will be evaluated, with a view to minimising uncertainty for staff.
What is not yet known
No appointment of administrators had been announced in the coverage reviewed, and the court has not been reported to have ruled on the notice. Sky News said earlier on 29 October that suppliers were moving to curtail deliveries, so how the chain trades during the protection period is an open question.
The counts for staff differ between sources, at about 10,500 in Sky’s report and 12,000 in others. Which shops would transfer to which bidder, and the position of the Dealz shops in Ireland, are not set out in any source reviewed. Poundland is a company-owned chain and no franchise network is described.
