Another two Poundland stores to shut in weeks ahead of 68 other shop closures following £1 rescue deal
Last week, Polish owner Pepco Group sold Poundland to US investment firm Gordon Brothers for £1 after a downturn in trading.
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The new owners are now asking the court for permission to close 68 stores and negotiate lower rents on others, with up to 82 more stores potentially shutting in the future.
However, before this announcement, Poundland had already planned to close 18 stores, and the remaining two of these now have confirmed closure dates.
The discounter will pull down the shutters on a store on the Isle of Wight at the end of next month.
The Isle of Wight store in Cowes will close permanently on July 30, a spokesperson confirmed.
They said: "We'd like to thank customers for their support over the years and look forward to welcoming them to our other locations on the Island.
"Whenever we close a store in situations like this, we do everything possible to find other opportunities for our colleagues, and that work is already underway."
Following this, the Newquay store will shut its doors for good on August 1.
Poundland has already closed 16 stores since March last year.
Many more are set to close in the coming months following the struggling retailer's sale to Gordon Brothers.
Five ways to save money at Poundland
Full list of Poundland store closures
HERE'S the complete list of Poundland's 18 planned store closures.
Connswater Shopping Centre, Belfast – closed March 2024
Macclesfield – closed August, 2024
Maidenhead – closed October, 2024
Sutton Coldfield – closed October, 2024
Clapham Junction Station, London – closed May 2
Belle Vale Shopping Centre, Liverpool – closed May 6
St George's Centre, Gravesend – closed May 8
Southwark Park Road – closed May 14
Copdock Mill Interchange, Ipswich – closed May 20
Brackla, Wales – closed May 24
Chiswick High Road – closed May 28
Filton Abbeywood – closed May 31
Surrey Quays – closing June 11
Barrow Dalton Road - closing June 12
Union Gate, Bristol - closing June 20
Flint - closed June 21
Cowes, Isle of Wight – closing July 30
Newquay - closing August 1
What is happening with Poundland?
Last week, Poundland was bought by US investment firm Gordon Brothers for £1.
Following the sale the firm is seeking court approval to shut 68 shops and secure rent reductions on others — with a further 82 possibly closing in the coming years.
It also plans to close its frozen and digital distribution site at Darton, South Yorks, this year and another warehouse at Springvale in Bilston, West Mids, in early 2026.
Around 1,000 shop staff and 350 warehouse workers in the UK will be affected by the restructure, but none in Ireland.
Bosses said they expect the court proceedings for the restructuring to conclude in late summer.
Poundland MD Barry Williams said: "It's no secret that we have much work to do to get back on track.
"It's sincerely regrettable this plan includes the closure of stores and distribution centres, but it's necessary if we're to achieve our goal of securing the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of stores."
Poundland could end up with as few as 650 stores in the UK and Ireland.
It also plans to stop selling frozen food in its stores and scale back its chilled range.
And shoppers will no longer be able to order its products online.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce showed that more than half of companies planned to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms also found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.
Why is the retail sector struggling?
The retail sector has struggled in recent years due to the onset of online shopping and lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
Higher inflation since 2022 has also hit shoppers' budgets while businesses have struggled with higher wage, tax and energy costs.
The Centre for Retail Research has described the sector as going through a "permacrisis" since the 2008 financial crash.
Figures from the Centre also show 34 retail companies operating multiple stores stopped trading in 2024, leading to the closure of 7,537 shops.
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