Portsmouth Poundworld at risk of closing as company goes into administration

Poundworld is set to go into administration, putting 5,100 jobs at risk.

The discount retailer has around 350 stores nationwide, including one in London Road, Portsmouth, and all of them could face closure.

Adminstrators Deloitte have been called in by Poundworld after a deal to save the company broke down over the weekend.

Poundworld’s losses increased to £17.1 million between 2016 and 2017, compared to £5.4 million of losses the year before.

The chain, which also trades under the Bargain Buys name, also has stores in High Street, Gosport, and in Meridan Centre, Havant.

Poundworld is the latest High Street brand to fall into trouble in 2018, following the announcement last week that House of Fraser would shut 31 stores - a move which will affect around 6,000 jobs.

Toys R Us and Maplin both went into administration earlier this year, with the last of the Toys R Us stores closing in April.

House of Fraser is currently seeking landlord approval for the restructuring plan, which is a form of insolvency known as a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA).

A raft of CVAs have been struck in recent months as retailers struggle amid surging costs, rising business rates, competition from online rivals and a slowdown in consumer spending.

Other retailers undertaking CVAs in a bid to keep trading include New Look, Mothercare and Carpetright.

Restaurant businesses have also been seeking to cut their costs with store closure programmes, with Carluccio’s, Byron and Prezzo all pushing through CVAs this year.