Poundworld crashed into administration yesterday, putting more than 300 stores and 5,000 jobs at risk amid conditions described by analysts as the worst period for the high street since the financial crisis. According to many reports, Poundworld was in talks with a potential buyer R Capital, but the talks collapsed over the weekend, forcing the group into administration today. “Some will never come back into retail use and that’s quite shocking.”

Read more: House of Fraser confirms plans to close more than half of its stores

Poundworld’s collapse yesterday made it the latest casualty of the retail sector this year, following the failures of Toys R Us and Maplin in March, while Fabb Sofas also fell into administration just last week. Meanwhile, Deloitte has stated that the stores will continue to trade as normal with no redundancies at this time: “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. Speaking of Poundworld’s move, Deloitte administrator Clare Boardman said that “the retail trading environment in the UK remains extremely challenging and Poundworld has been seeking to address this through a restructure of its business. 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. A spokesperson for Poundworld”s owner, TPG added that filing for administration had been “a difficult decision”. The announcement comes just days after House of Fraser, the Chinese-owned department store chain, said it is closing more than half its shops across Britain and Ireland, risking the loss of 6,000 jobs.
British retail chain Poundworld, which employs thousands of people, collapses into administration.