UK retailer Poundland buys more time as rescue efforts continue

British discount retailer Poundland on Thursday filed another Notice of Intention ‌to appoint administrators, giving the business and its owners, US investment firm Gordon Brothers, more time to find a rescue deal.

The extension gives Poundland, which trades from more than 600 stores in the UK and Ireland and employs about ‌12,000, another 10 working days of legal protection from creditor claims. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month ‌that he wanted to see a rescue deal which would protect jobs at the retailer.

Poundland's board said in statement that a sale process was ongoing and there was funding agreed to enable the business to continue trading for now. "The Board of Poundland has today resolved ⁠to make ​an application for a second ⁠NOI with a view to identifying the best available prospects for shareholders, creditors and our people," it said.

The board added that its ⁠stores remain open as usual. A spokesperson for Gordon Brothers, which purchased Poundland last year for a nominal £1 from Warsaw-listed Pepco Group, ​said it was in talks with three parties for a sale of the whole business and had ⁠also received several offers from established high street retailers for significant parts of it.

"While our preference remains a sale of the whole ⁠company, we ​are taking due care to ensure that any successful offer can provide the funds required to acquire the business and see it through to sustainable cash generation," the spokesperson said. Representatives of Gordon Brothers appeared before parliament's ⁠Business and Trade Committee in private session on Wednesday.

After the session, the committee's chair, senior Labour lawmaker Liam Byrne, ⁠criticised Gordon Brothers' ownership ⁠of Poundland. The Gordon Brothers spokesperson said the firm had over the last year provided Poundland with £85 million ($113 million) in new financing - "stepping in when no one else was willing ‌to finance the company."

($1 = ‌0.7543 pounds)