Poundland founder would have bought business back

The founder of Poundland has said he tried to buy the firm back when he heard it was up for sale.

Steve Smith’s business venture began on a market stall in Bilston where he sold items for £1, with the first Poundland store opening in Burton-upon-Trent in 1990 and Mr Smith selling his shares in the firm for £250m in 2006.

The business, which currently has 792 stores in the UK and Ireland and employs about 16,000 people, was sold last week to US investment firm Gordon Brothers.

“I would’ve liked to have bought it back because I’m still passionate about the people and the concept,” Mr Smith said.

The businessman, who grew up in Willenhall, said: “I’m proud that 85% of the population have bought something from the shop.

“I did pick up the phone when I heard it was for sale but I was a bit too late,” Mr Smith said.

Poundland is also seeking rent reductions from landlords which, together with leases expiring on some stores, could result in about 70 shop closures in the future.

A distribution centre at Darton, South Yorkshire, and its national distribution centre at Bilston in the West Midlands have also been earmarked for closure.

Mr Smith, who now lives in Shropshire, admitted he was sad but not entirely surprised at the news of the business needing to restructure.

“I’m sorry to hear that Poundland are closing so many stores, it wasn’t just me that started the business but the people that worked there.

“I do think it was inevitable, this was going to happen because I experienced it on the market stall with our prices going from 10p to 20p and so on.

“Customers are used to the £1 concept but as the price point changes so do our prices.”

He said while he understood the need for price increases more would have been needed to help support the business, in his opinion.

“It’s still a one prince concept, that’s what customers loved and what made Poundland different,” he said, “but I would’ve changed the price point and I think it does need new systems [and] it’s important the business get support from their suppliers.”