Poundland, the West Midlands discount retailer that grew from a market stall to over 800 stores across the UK and Ireland, filed notice of intention to appoint administrators on Thursday after its US owner Gordon Brothers cut funding and rejected a takeover bid from Irish firm Martin Property Group.
Founder Steve Smith opened the first Poundland shop on December 13, 1990, in Burton-upon-Trent with a £50,000 loan from his parents. The store took over £13,000 on its first day. Smith sold his final shares in 2006 for £250m but said the sale felt "as though somebody had died". Polish firm Pepco sold Poundland to Gordon Brothers in 2025 for £1.
At the time of that sale, Poundland employed around 16,000 staff. The company now has 10 days to secure a rescue deal. Its board said it had "not been possible to identify an acceptable offer for the business as a whole" but that "several established retail operators" had made formal offers covering significant parts of the business.
Professor Sarah Montano of the University of Birmingham said Poundland's original appeal was unique. "There's competitors which are offering very similar prices and for quite a lot of products they're offering them cheaper," she said.
About 25 people protested outside Poundland's Walsall headquarters on Thursday. Claire Sutcliffe, who worked for the company for nine years, said staff were "very sad" and asked Gordon Brothers to "save our jobs."