Poundland files notice seeking creditor protection

Poundland has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, giving the discount retailer ten working days of protection from creditors while it pursues rescue options. The filing, recorded in court documents on Thursday, October 29, does not itself place the company into administration or require its stores to close. The retailer operates around 600 stores across the UK. Reports put its workforce at approximately 12,000, while Usdaw general secretary Joanne Thomas said around 11,000 jobs were at stake. The union has warned that the uncertainty is affecting thousands of workers. The filing follows Gordon Brothers’ rejection of a takeover proposal from Martin Property Group, an Irish real estate company that Poundland management had identified as its preferred bidder. The proposal was aimed at keeping the chain operating as one business. Reports say Gordon Brothers considered the offer insufficiently funded and involving deferred payments; the full terms and the owner’s detailed reasoning have not been made public in the accounts of the deal. Gordon Brothers is now considering offers for Poundland as a whole and for viable parts of the business. The company said formal...