Poundland sold for £1 in rescue deal as thousands of jobs left at risk
12 June 2025, 11:38
Up to 100 Poundland stores could be shut as part its parent company selling the brand for £1.
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Pepco Group has sold off high street brand Poundland to investment firm Gordon Brothers so the group can focus on its Pepco clothing business instead.
Poundland currently has 850 stores which employ over 16,000 people across the UK - but hundreds of stores could close even with the deal secured to save the chain.
Pepco has announced Gordon Brothers would invest a total of £80m in Poundland which included an existing secured loan of £30m and a further £30m overdraft.
Pepco Group previously said it saw a drop in revenue of more than £57 million last year.
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Stephen Borchert, Pepco Group CEO, said: "The agreed sale of Poundland marks an important milestone in our strategic plan to move away from FMCG and focus predominantly on Pepco, our higher margin clothing and general merchandise business.
"As set out during our Capital Markets Day in March 2025, this transaction will strongly support our accelerated value creation programme by simplifying the Group and focusing on our successful Pepco business.
"I am confident that Pepco has the right foundations to be one of Europe’s most successful discount retailers, delivering customer satisfaction, profitable growth and shareholder value.
"Poundland remains a key player in UK discount retail, with millions of customers annually and a well-loved brand and proposition.
"We want to sincerely thank all the Poundland team for their ongoing commitment and contribution to the Group and wish Barry Williams and his team all the best for the future."
It was previously reported that the amount of work required to turn the brand back into a profitable entity would render any sales price as nominal.
It was reported in January that Poundland’s like-for-like sales fell a whopping 7.3% in the months leading up to December 2024.
The drop in sales was so severe that Pepco said they were examining “all strategic options” to potentially separate Poundland from the wider group.
“Poundland is a strong brand that serves millions of customers every week,” Pepco said at the time.
“[They] had around two billion euros (£1.67 billion) in annual turnover in 2024, but are also operating in an increasingly challenging UK retail landscape that is only intensifying.”
Mark Newton-Jones, head of Gordon Brothers in Europe, added: "We are delighted to provide Barry Williams and his management team with the financing to support the substantial turnaround of this iconic retailer.
"We believe Poundland is an essential business to UK consumers and plays an important role on the high street."
Now the sale has gone ahead, Pepco Group, Gordon Brothers and Poundland are set to put together a restructuring plan, which will need to be approved by the High Court.
