Poundworld to close 80 more shops with more than 1,000 jobs lost

Follows announcement of 25 branch closures earlier this week

The latest round of closures will leave just 230 Poundworld branches open (PA)

Poundworld’s administrators will close a further 80 stores on top of the 25 previously announced.

Some 1,024 employees will be affected by the decision, bringing the total number of redundancies to 1,266.

Deloitte partners Clare Boardman and Daniel Butters have been trying to find a buyer for the business since it fell into administration in June.

The administrators said the closures would not impact the potential sale of other parts of the business, and there are still ongoing discussions with interested parties – including the potential sale of the head office and distribution centres.

Ms Boardman said: “Whilst we remain hopeful that a sale for part, or parts, of the business can still happen, it has not been possible to sell the business as a whole. We would like to thank all the employees for their continued support and commitment during this difficult time. We are keeping staff appraised of developments as they happen.”

Dave Gill, Usdaw national officer, said: “We welcomed Deloitte’s initial approach for Poundworld to continue to trade while a buyer for all or part of the business is sought. However, now the second wave of store closures have been announced, it is clear the future of the business looks very bleak.

“We are helping our members find alternative employment with other retailers that recognise Usdaw and we were pleased to secure a promise from Poundland to offer any former Poundworld workers an interview. They are experienced shopworkers who find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own, we urge retailers with vacancies to look at employing ex Poundworld staff.”

The stores are set to be closed in a “phased” process between the 20 to 22 July, and will leave the total number of Poundworld shops still open to 230.

The following locations have been added to the list of stores shutting:

Aberdeen

Banbury

Banbury

Bexley Heath

Birkenhead

Blackburn

Bloxwich

Blyth Bb

Bolton

Bolton Breightmet Rp

Bootle

Bradford

Bradford

Bristol

Bristol

Bude

Burton Upon Trent

Canterbury

Cardiff

Chelmsford

Chester

Corby

Coventry

Coventry

Cramlington

Dagenham

Darlington

Dewsbury

Fleet

Fulham

Gateshead

Glasgow

Gloucester

Greenock

Grimsby

Harlow

Harrogate

Havant

Hinckley

Huddersfield

Huddersfield

Inverness

Jarrow

Kings Lynn

Kirkby

Leeds Crown Point

Leeds Kirkgate

Leeds Kirkstall Rd

Leicester

Leicester (Bb)

Liverpool

Livingston

Llanelli

Llantrissant

London Archway

Manchester

Merry Hill

Merthyr Tydfil

Middlesbrough

Northampton

Norwich

Nottingham

Portsmouth

Rotherham Duk

Seacroft (Leeds)

Selby

Sheffield

Shepherds Bush

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Slough

South Shields

Southport

St Albans

Stocksbridge

Sunderland

Sutton

Swinton

Watford

Wood Green