[bots]

Struggling budget chain Poundland has been sold for £1 and now faces a shake-up which could see up to 100 stores close, the BBC understands.

Its owner Polish firm Pepco confirmed it had sold the brand for a "nominal" sum to US investment firm Gordon Brothers.

Poundland has 825 UK stores and around 16,000 staff and was struggling to compete with other discount stores, with sales down this January and February.

Following the sale a proposed restructure will be put to the High Court in England, Pepco said.

It comes after Pepco warned that increased employer National Insurance contributions which kicked in in April would put added pressure on the chain.

Pepco Group has owned Poundland since 2016, but the firm had to auction the brand off after sales slumped over the past year.

Gordon Brothers is a global investment firm which formerly owned fashion label Laura Ashley.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c36594lr29ko

[arista]

[Pepco Group has owned Poundland since 2016,
but the firm had to auction the brand off after
sales slumped over the past year.]


They should have kept a front section
of everything at a Pound.

If you go in now
It's loads of different prices

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by arista

[Pepco Group has owned Poundland since 2016,
but the firm had to auction the brand off after
sales slumped over the past year.]


They should have kept a front section
of everything at a Pound.

If you go in now
It's loads of different prices

Yeah they should have rebranded, it was more like B and M

[Kate!]

Originally Posted by arista

[Pepco Group has owned Poundland since 2016,
but the firm had to auction the brand off after
sales slumped over the past year.]


They should have kept a front section
of everything at a Pound.

If you go in now
It's loads of different prices

Yeah it defies the trade descriptions act.

[arista]

Sad for some workers who may be sacked.

[Zizu]

Crazy the shops are going for a POUND when lots of items are now priced at £2 or £3 !!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ammi]

…isn’t that what Philip Green did with BHS…/…sell it for £1…is it not connected to debt liability and the owners safeguarding their own wealth with not having to pay out debts…?…

[arista]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…isn’t that what Philip Green did with BHS…/…sell it for £1…is it not connected to debt liability and the owners safeguarding their own wealth with not having to pay out debts…?…

Yes he did.

[bots]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…isn’t that what Philip Green did with BHS…/…sell it for £1…is it not connected to debt liability and the owners safeguarding their own wealth with not having to pay out debts…?…

the charge of £1 makes it a legally binding contract and change of ownership

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by bots

the charge of £1 makes it a legally binding contract and change of ownership

…yeah, I realise that money must exchange hands to be legally binding but it’s still surely connected to debt liability as well…?…honestly these company owners are horrendous and have no care at all for their employees…the ones who helped put the dollars in their pockets…

[arista]

99p stores were far better

[bots]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…yeah, I realise that money must exchange hands to be legally binding but it’s still surely connected to debt liability as well…?…honestly these company owners are horrendous and have no care at all for their employees…the ones who helped put the dollars in their pockets…

It all gets very complicated, there are different rules depending on the method of transfer of ownership. Mergers for example, i believe ensure that existing contracts have to be honoured, or at least they did in my day. Straight change of ownership doesn't provide as many, if any, safeguards to employees, so employee contracts can basically be ripped up

P&O ferries are another example of doing the dirty on your workforce

[Ammi]

…so Gordon Brothers who’ve paid the £1 and bought them, previously owned Laura Ashley who closed their stores and became concessions only through other stores…?…it doesn’t look great for any future for employees, does it…

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by bots

It all gets very complicated, there are different rules depending on the method of transfer of ownership. Mergers for example, i believe ensure that existing contracts have to be honoured, or at least they did in my day. Straight change of ownership doesn't provide as many, if any, safeguards to employees, so employee contracts can basically be ripped up

P&O ferries are another example of doing the dirty on your workforce

…yeah…(…I think with mergers as well though…)…the contracts will be generally only be honoured for 12 months …like Philip Green, I’m sure that the directors/owners of Pepco will be sitting in their millions for a lifetime…

[arista]

In a way,
the Labour Party
Killed them off.

With their Nat.Insurance New Tax

[bots]

Poundland were stuffed long before labour came to power

The thing is though, you are not wrong, everything will now be blamed on labour raising national insurance whether its true or not

[Ammi]

…it was all a pound ‘til Labour came around, then Keir made it all too dear…?…

[arista]

68 stores are to Close


Also

Poundland will stop selling frozen food

[arista]

[June 17 (Reuters) - A restructuring plan
proposed by struggling British discount
retailer Poundland will see the closure of 68 stores
and rent reductions across other locations,
it said on Tuesday.

Last week, Warsaw-listed Pepco Group sold
the Poundland business to Gordon Brothers
for a nominal sum, with the buyer pledging
to invest 80 million pounds ($108 million) to drive
a recovery.

Poundland said the restructuring plan,
which requires court approval, would, over time,
result in a network of 650 to 700 stores.

The discounter currently operates from
around 800 stores in the UK and Ireland,
where it trades as Dealz.
It employs about 16,000 people.

Other elements of the plan include Poundland
withdrawing from the sale of frozen food,
a reduced chilled food offer, converting Poundland.co.uk
from a transactional website to a brand website,
and adding a greater depth of
womenswear items to stores.]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/re...ring-plan.html