Poundland directors meet to decide firm's future ahead of midnight deadline

The directors of Poundland are holding a board meeting tonight to decide the company's future, Sky News has been told.

Managing director Barry Williams said there were "no guarantees" jobs would be saved.

Speaking later, after a private meeting with parliament's business committee, he thanked staff and said they had "done an amazing job getting the business to where it is".

Asked if Poundland would enter administration tomorrow, he added: "We're going to go and have a board meeting now to have those conversations."

There's a midnight deadline to appoint administrators, with 600 stores and 10,500 jobs at stake - plus thousands more in the supply chain.

Mr Williams, who met MPs alongside the UK boss of the company's US owner Gordon Brothers, said they were able to "share some more detail - we left them with some facts".

"Sean and I have now got to go and hold a board meeting and to make some decisions based upon our next steps," Mr Williams added.

Sky's business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso says Poundland's British management is expected to seek another stay of execution - of at least another couple of weeks - to try to forge an agreement with Gordon Brothers.

But MP Liam Byrne, who chairs the business and trade committee, called today's hearing "one of the most extraordinary evidence sessions I have ever seen".

He accused Gordon Brothers of "behaving almost like a Wolf of Wall Street, rampaging the British high street".

Mr Byrne told Kelso that MPs were "more concerned now than at the beginning of the hearing" and there were "completely conflicting accounts of what is going on".

He said the US firm didn't give a satisfactory answer to whether they would prioritise saving jobs over their own financial returns.

'Do the right thing'

Mr Byrne also claimed there was "clear evidence" Gordon Brothers had taken up to £20m out of Poundland "at a time when it was on a knife edge".

He said the investment firm must "do the right thing" and give Poundland the "access they need to their own bank accounts to maximise the chance of the business trading successfully and getting a deal done".

MPs intend to hold a public evidence session once any risk of jeopardising a deal has passed," Mr Byrne added.

Poundland's directors have the option this evening of seeking a 10-day extension if they're confident it would not compromise the interests of creditors.

If they aren't confident of that, and don't feel they have enough cash to continue, they are legally bound to go ahead with the administration process.

Martin Property Group, a Northern Irish company, has been trying to buy Poundland for weeks, but has seen its proposals rejected by Gordon Brothers.

Another bidder, Xyra Group Holdings, has been reported to be the frontrunner to do a deal because it is offering to repay more of a £30m shareholder loan up front.

If Poundland does go bust, a break-up would take place with several hundred of the chain's stores being sold to other retailers.

Sky's City editor Mark Kleinman reported on Tuesday that Gordon Brothers had released about £10m to pay Poundland's suppliers, but that sources had cautioned it didn't mean the firm would be saved.

Gordon Brothers' UK boss, former Mothercare boss Mark Newton-Jones, previously defended its stewardship of Poundland in a letter to the MPs' committee.

In extracts obtained by Sky News, he said the firm had "supported Poundland with £85m of additional financing" and put "significant working capital at risk" since acquiring it in 2025.

Mr Newton-Jones said Poundland faced "multiple economic challenges, including rising inflation, increasing staffing costs and shrinkage from severe levels of shoplifting".

In separate statement last week, a Gordon Brothers' spokesperson said it was "pursuing all avenues through the sale process to find a solution which protects as many jobs as possible and preserves value".

It added: "Our intent throughout the comprehensive sale process has been to protect as many jobs as possible and preserve value in order to deliver the best available outcome for the people, creditors and local communities who care about this business as much as we do."

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