Retail union Usdaw has condemned Poundland’s owners Gordon Brothers for refusing to engage with it over the future of the discount chain, warning that the business could be pushed into administration within days.
The union says it repeatedly sought urgent talks with the owners as soon as rumours emerged that Gordon Brothers was putting Poundland up for sale, but has been shut out of discussions about the future of the business and its workforce.
Bally Auluk: ‘An absolute disgrace’
Usdaw national officer Bally Auluk said: “With thousands of jobs on the line it is an absolute disgrace that Gordon Brothers has failed to engage with us to seek a secure future for the business.”
He said sources inside the company had warned that a decision on Poundland’s future could be made as early as Tuesday, and that there were deep concerns it could go into administration, “which would be a disaster for our members”.
Buy-out offers turned down
Auluk said the union understood that a management buy-out had been attempted but that the offers were being turned down. He questioned why Poundland was being described as struggling when the company had recently reported a return to like-for-like sales growth and thanked staff for their “amazing efforts”.
“Gordon Brothers need to be open about their intentions and demonstrate their commitment to the business, which our members are successfully helping to turn around,” he said. “The very least they should do is now engage with Usdaw to ensure that our members have a say in the future of their jobs.”
Usdaw, the UK’s fifth biggest union with around 370,000 members, most of them in retail, first called for urgent talks with Gordon Brothers in September amid reports that the owners were looking for a buyer for the chain.
