Poundworld was a chain of British value variety stores that sold most of its items for £1. It was founded in 1974 by Yorkshire-based father-and-son team Chris Edwards Sr. and Chris Edwards Jr. In contrast to many high street retailers, it maintained strong sales and growth during the global recession that started in 2007. Poundworld's product range consisted of over 6,000 items including groceries, health and beauty, toiletries, cleaning products and pet care, some of them known brands. At its peak it had 335 stores in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 2014, it planned to open 150 new stores within three years.
Their larger rival in the market was Poundland. A series on BBC One entitled Pound Shop Wars, broadcast between 2012 and 2015, concerned Poundworld and its rivals. As well as all of its £1 lines, Poundworld introduced a range of multi-price products across its estate of stores in 2017 to offer customers 'More Choice, More Savings'. This became the company’s slogan, replacing the now-inaccurate ‘Everything £1’. Suffering intense competition from the addition of multi-price products, combined with difficulties arising from the weak pound, Poundworld entered administration in June 2018. Closing sales began in stores late that month. In July 2018, Poundworld confirmed that all stores were to close by 10 August 2018 after rescue talks with original founder Christopher Edwards failed.
Following its closure, the defunct brand was purchased by New Money Limited, with its owner Manni Hussain pledging to return the chain to the high street. These plans failed to come to fruition as Hussain handed his company to the state over suspicions of money laundering.
History
The chain originated in 1974, when Christopher Edwards Sr. set up a market stall in his home town of Wakefield. He initially set up a multi-price store called "Bargain Centre", before switching to a single-price format in 1997, trading as "Everything £1" at 58, Westgate, Bradford. Edwards renamed the chain "Poundworld" in 2003.
From the onset of the recession that started in 2007, Poundworld expanded rapidly. Its sales grew by 42% between 2010 and 2011, and increased by 55%, with revenues of £200m, in 2012. Its expansion meant that the company required larger premises, and it relocated its head offices to the largest unit in Yorkshire's main warehousing and distribution base. It also opened an overseas office in Shanghai during this period.
In October 2013, Poundworld partnered with the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity, which it had already supported during 2013's Great Daffodil Appeal. To date, the company has raised in excess of £900,000 to help care for those (and their families) living with a terminal illness.
In November 2013, Poundworld opened its first multi-price retail store, in Walsall, under the name Bargain Buys. Bargain Buys was originally named (and briefly traded as) Discount UK, with the name change allowing the chain to compete more closely with its rivals in the market. The company planned to open a further 100 stores in the next three years.
In July 2014, the store secured a £26m loan from Santander to finance its stated aim of increasing its approximately 240 stores by 40 or 50 a year for the next three years, and to strengthen its overseas supply chain from where about 30% of its supplies are sourced.
The Edwards (father and son) were placed at Number 12 in Management Todays annual list of Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs in October 2014. In the same month, Poundworld Retail was named one of the United Kingdom's fastest-growing retailers in the Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250.
On 15 May 2015, the company announced that it had sold a majority stake in the business to private equity firm TPG Capital for £150 million, with Christopher Edwards, his son, and other senior executives retaining a substantial minority holding, allowing the family to retain the day-to-day running of the business. Poundworld announced that the investment from TPG would allow the business to grow, with further plans for store expansion. Shortly after the deal, the company announced that it had begun construction of a new distribution centre in Normanton as part of a plan to create 4,000 jobs, and hoped to open a further 200 new stores in the next three years.