Poundworld store chain enters administration

DISCOUNT store Poundworld has entered administration, putting more than 5,000 jobs at risk.

The budget retailer, which has a store in the Britannia Centre in Hinckley as well as in Leicester’s Haymarket and St George’s Retail Park, is reported to be low on cash.

The retailer announcement made the after crunch talks with potential Capital, fell through.

Poundworld, which services an estimated two million customers a week from 355 stores, also trades under the Bargain Buys name.

Administrators Deloitte stress the stores will continue to trade as normal with no redundancies at this time, though more than 5,100 jobs are reportedly at risk. buyer, R

It said in a statement: “Like many high street retailers, Poundworld has suffered from high product cost inflation, decreasing footfall, weaker consumer confidence and an increasingly competitive discount retail market.”

Clare Boardman, joint administrator at Deloitte, said: “The retail trading environment in the UK remains extremely chal- lenging and Poundworld has been seeking to address this through a restructure of its business.

“Unfortunately, this has not been possible.”

She said Deloitte believed a buyer could be found for the business, or at least part of it.

A spokesperson for Poundworld’’s owner, TPG, said filing for administration had been “a difficult decision”.

“Despite investing resources to strengthen the business, the decline in UK retail and changing consumer behaviour affected Poundworld significantly,” they added.

Poundworld has been losing money for the past two years. Losses for the financial year 2016-17 were £17.1m, up from £5.4m the year before.