Pizza Hut, Poundland and WH Smith: The high street brands that closed stores in 2025 Retail A raft of major UK retail and hospitality brands shut down stores across the UK this year, with other high street mainstays closing their doors for good. It came amid a backdrop of pressure on consumer finances, rising inflation for most of the year and increased costs for businesses. As a result, numerous businesses launched [...]
Buyer of WH Smith in late stage talks to snap up leading footwear chain Business The investment firm which bought WH Smith is in advanced talks to takeover a privately owned footwear retailer as it looks to snaps up more UK high street staples. Modella Capital is in late stage talks to buy Wynsors World of Shoes, which trades from approximately 50 standalone shops across the the north of the [...]
Mark Kleinman: Poundland buyer bargains on a revival Business Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly Morning Wire column Poundland buyer bargains on a revival Anyone for a bargain? Buying a chain of pound shops for a price lower than that of the goods it sells must feel like a pretty appealing deal for Gordon [...]
Poundland to close 68 stores in restructuring plan June 17, 2025 Poundland has announced the closure of just under 10 per cent of its estate as its restructuring plan takes shape under new ownership. The discount retailer, previously owned by Pepco, was acquired by investment giant Gordon Brothers for just £1 after a prolonged period of declining sales. The chain has struggled with “challenging trading conditions”, [...]
Poundland sold for just £1 and handed war chest to lead recovery June 12, 2025 Poundland has been sold for just £1 to investment giant Gordon Brothers in a deal which will provide the discount retailer with a £80m war chest to turn around its fortunes. Pepco Group has entered into a definitive agreement with Gordon Brothers to sell Poundland which will continue to be led by chief executive Barry [...]
Pepco to sell off Poundland business by September – for £1 May 22, 2025 Discount giant Pepco is set to sell its Poundland business by September as the brand struggles with high costs and low sales. In an update to markets this morning, Pepco said Poundland continued to see “challenging trading conditions” with revenue down 6.5 per cent in the first half of the year. The discount chain now [...]
Mark Kleinman: Kicking the Abbey habit may be harder than it looks for Botin January 23, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly Morning Wire column. This week, he looks at Santander shifts, a tale of two cities in banking and a canary in the Poundland coalmine Kicking the Abbey habit may be harder than it looks for Botin Is this the [...]
Poundland owner Pepco vows to turn around discount retailer as sales fall January 16, 2025 The owner of Poundland has vowed to get the discount retailer back on track after its performance dragged on the wider Pepco Group. In the first quarter of its financial year, the final three months of 2024, Poundland’s sales totalled €563m (£474.5m), down 9.3 per cent year on year on a constant currency basis. That [...]
Poundland adds more items to its offering – but do customers see the value? January 16, 2025 Yougov’s chief executive Steve Hatch takes a closer look at the data behind the biggest stories in business. Here, he searches for value in Poundland. Poundland announced an increase in the number of £1 products it offers from 1,500 to 2,400 on 6 January 2025, having cut the price of basics such as milk, bread, [...]
Poundland owner Pepco slumps to huge loss after £640m hit December 10, 2024 Discount retail giant Pepco slumped to a loss of more than £450m after weak performance from Poundland in the UK, it has been revealed. The European group has posted a pre-tax loss of €554m (£458.7m) for the 12 months to 30 September, 2024, after having made a profit of €159m (£131.6m) in the prior year. [...]