Poundworld is set to close 25 stores after falling into administration last month.
The affected stores are mostly in the North West, in cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Chester. They are all outside London.
The stores will hold their last day of trading on 15 July. The closures will result in the redundancies of 242 employees.
Deloitte partners Daniel Butters and Clare Boardman were appointed as joint administrators in June.
The accountancy firm said Poundworld would continue trading while the business looked for a buyer. It said it had received offers for “a significant number of stores” as well as the head office and distribution centre.
However, the administrators said selling the business as a whole was no longer an option.
Boardman said: “While we remain hopeful that a sale of part of the business can still happen, it has not been possible to sell the business as a whole, resulting in today’s announcement.
“We would like to thank all the employees for their continued support and commitment during this difficult time. We are keeping staff appraised of developments as they happen.”
Figures from Radius Data Exchange show that the 25 store closures will create an additional 160,000 sq ft of empty space, bringing the total space lost on the UK’s high streets in 2018 to 11m sq ft.
EG retail analyst James Child said: “The value sector has been feeling the strain since the EU referendum. The fact that the pound plummeted after the vote has meant the cost of importing goods has increased.
“Given Poundworld’s USP of everything costing £1, it has been nigh on impossible to pass on the additional costs. The wafer-thin margins it operates on have come under severe pressure, and it has faced increased competition from other value brands that have gone through a period of expansion since the 2008 crash.”
Main image: Mark Newcombe/Rex/Shutterstock
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