The collapse of Poundland shows why the Government’s new high street strategy must deliver real change, a leading
independent retailers association has warned.
The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has responded to the news that Poundland has appointed AlixPartners as administrators, placing around 12,000 jobs and 600 stores at risk just weeks before the critical Christmas trading period.
The news comes three years after the collapse of Wilko, when Poundland took over the leases of up to 71 former Wilko stores and converted them to the Poundland brand.
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, said: “The news about Poundland is deeply worrying, first and foremost for the thousands of staff facing uncertainty in the run-up to Christmas.
"When Wilko collapsed, Poundland stepped in and kept the lights on in dozens of those stores. Now those same units, and hundreds more, face an uncertain future. Every time a big name disappears, the high street loses footfall that the independent shops around it rely on. Empty units do not attract shoppers, and when an anchor store goes, the whole street feels it.”
Mr Goodacre added: “We welcome the changes in the recent Budget, particularly the rise in Small Business Rates Relief for retail, hospitality and leisure to a rateable value of £18,000, which Bira campaigned for.
"But the Budget on its own will not turn the high street around. The new high street strategy, Hope on the High Street, has to be more than words on a page. It needs to bring down the cost of trading, fill empty units and give people real reasons to visit their town centres.
"Independent retailers are ready to play their part, but they need the right conditions to do it.”
In the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor confirmed that the threshold for Small Business Rates Relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will rise from a rateable value of £12,000 to £18,000 from April 2027, taking 70,000 more businesses out of business rates altogether.
Bira, which works with over 6,000 independent retailers across the UK, continues to call for the 75% retail, hospitality and leisure discount, up to a value of £110,000, to be reintroduced, which it believes would be a more constructive approach for independent retailers of all sizes.