Poundland

Lord Fox Excerpts

Wednesday 4th November 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade (Lord Leong) (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for coming in to ask this question despite having a very heavy cold. I wish him a speedy recovery.

Poundland stores remain open, but I know how worrying the uncertainty is for the 12,000 workers, their families and the wider supply chain. Gordon Brothers cites inflation and shoplifting, yet Poundland sales have grown and private buyers have come forward. Therefore, the owner needs to explain what is holding up the sale of the company. For the wider high street, the Budget will take around 70,000 more retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England out of business rates from April 2027. We are committing £210 million to the community assets programmes, supporting local communities to reimagine and revive the struggling high streets.

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, in the 1970s Prime Minister Edward Heath coined the phrase the “unacceptable face of capitalism”; if Gordon Brothers turns its back on the acquisition, closes Poundland and lets these important jobs go, that will be unacceptable. Therefore, I am a bit confused by the Minister’s response yesterday in the Commons. She seemed to be clear when she said that the Government would not

“sit by and do nothing”.

That would be clear, had she not said in the previous paragraph:

“We are not interfering with the auction. There are ongoing commercial negotiations about this private business, and we do not want to impede or influence that process”.—[Official Report, Commons, 3/11/26; cols. 729-30.]


Can the Minister clear things up? Which of these are the Government not doing?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

Currently, the Government are not going to intervene in the ongoing commercial negotiations regarding a private business. It would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene right now. We really need to wait and see what happens after the negotiations. Let us remember that Poundland is currently trading, it has appointed an administrator and there is creditor protection for 10 days, which expires next week. Under such terms, we want to see the negotiations carry on. However, the Government nevertheless want all viable options that are capable of protecting jobs and supporting a sustainable future for Poundland to be properly considered.