"Disagreement over lease terms" forced Poundland to close town centre store
Poundland's store on the corner of Regent Street and Havelock Square is no longer trading, with shutters pulled down over the entrance and most of the windows covered up.
The company, which announced plans to close 68 of its stores on Tuesday, has now confirmed that the closure of its town centre site is permanent.
A spokesperson for Poundland said that the Havelock Square store has closed its doors for good, with the closure being unrelated to the company's restructuring plans revealed earlier this week.
The spokesperson added that the closure was due to the company being unable to agree on lease terms to keep them trading at the site.
Poundland has submitted plans to the High Court proposing major cost-cutting measures alongside the closure of nearly 70 stores amid financial struggles.
These proposals include plans to reduce rent payments at a number of locations nationwide, which will eventually result in an anticipated network of 650 to 700 stores, reduced from around 800 currently in operation.
Should the restructuring plans be approved, stores remaining open will no longer sell frozen food, while the selection of chilled food on offer is to be reduced.
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The company's distribution centres in South Yorkshire and West Midlands will also be closed, with delivery services to be absorbed into existing distribution centres in Wigan and Harlow.
The announcement comes after Sky News reported earlier this week that Poundland was planning to halt rent payments at 250 sites that had been classed as loss-making 'Category C' sites.
If plans are approved, the company would have the right to terminate leases with 30 days' notice at around 70 of these stores, and with 60 days' notice at another 180 locations.
Poundland's store in The Parade only opened in December 2023 in place of the closed-down Wilko store as part of 10 new openings nationwide.
At the time, Austin Cooke, managing director of Poundland, said: "The monumental effort from our teams continues to amaze me, and it supports jobs and high streets right across Britain.
'We've opened 87 stores in 70 days that we'll have opened successfully, and no one should underestimate the effort and energy that our teams have put into delivering that achievement - I certainly don't."
The chain's owners, Polish firm Pepco, confirmed last week it had sold the company for a "nominal" sum to US investment firm Gordon Brothers.
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