More closures will take place this month including one in Liverpool
Poundland is closing more stores(Image: PA)
Poundland is set to close more sites across the country including one in Liverpool. The discount retailer is ceasing operations at two locations in south England, one being in London and the other in Kent, alongside another in Wales.
Poundland’s Clapham Junction store is set to pull down the shutters for good on May 2, after only being open for three years. The news was confirmed in a sign hung within the store, which read: “We’re closing May 2. Don’t worry, we have another great store in the Southside Shopping Centre near Specsavers!”
The second site to close is in Gravesend’s St George’s Centre, Kent. Poundland will also close Liverpool’s Belle Vale shopping centre branch promising the company is doing everything possible to help staff find new work.
Poundland added: “We know how disappointing this will be to customers and colleagues. Whenever we have to close a store in these circumstances, we do all we can to look for other opportunities for colleagues and that work is now underway.”
Poundland’s fourth closure will be its branch in Brackla, Wales which will be shutting on May 24.
A Poundland spokesperson said: “Poundland operates from over 800 locations across the UK and Ireland and with so many outlets, it will be no surprise that we constantly review our store portfolio as leases expire or come up for renewal.”
When the ECHO visited the Belle Vale shopping centre earlier this month, a number of shops had their shutters down, with half of the centre completely deserted. Some shoppers fear the centre is losing its status as a key asset to the area.
Pepco Group is the European owner of the 825-store Poundland business in Britain. The business is currently considering selling up and told news agency Reuters: “There are definitely interested parties for this business”.
The group said it was operating in an “increasingly challenging” UK retail landscape “that is only intensifying”.
At the beginning of the year, Poundland said it was investing “significantly” in security enhancement for its 800 UK shops.
The campaign is called “Against Retail Crime” and staff members will soon have to wear communications headsets to stay in close contact with each other should a crime or incident occur.
Another deterrent will be Motorola Solutions VT100 body cameras. They will be introduced to stores which the “most significant crime” issues.
The cameras, which provide a visual deterrent for offenders as well as recording incidents, have driven an 11% decline in violence against Poundland’s colleagues, alongside a marked reduction in shoplifting and theft, since their initial trial.
The changes to the store will also see more undercover guards hired with its security teams given the backing to detail suspected offenders in stores until police arrive. The retailer says it is working closely with local enforcement agencies and police forces.