It’s a sight familiar to many UK shoppers: the bright yellow banners shouting “Everything Must Go!” plastered across the windows of a Poundland store. But this autumn, those signs have taken on a new urgency as the discount retailer embarks on one of its largest rounds of store closures in recent memory. On October 24, 2025, Poundland confirmed that 10 more of its stores across the UK would begin extensive clearance sales, slashing prices by up to 40 percent as they prepare to shut their doors for good.
For regulars at these branches, the news lands with a mix of disappointment and pragmatism. The Perry Barr store in Birmingham, for example, is already deep into its closing down sale, with everything from homeware to health and beauty products marked down until the last customer walks out on November 2. According to BirminghamWorld, the Droitwich location on St Andrews Square will follow suit, launching its clearance on October 28 and closing on December 9. Other affected branches include Hailsham, Loughborough, New Malden, Dalston, Beeston, Melton Mowbray, Hempstead Valley, and Bexhill—each with their own timeline for winding down operations but all offering the same promise of deep discounts until the final day.
“We know how disappointing it is when we leave a store, but before we close our doors for a final time, we’re determined to say goodbye by offering even more amazing value to customers,” said Darren MacDonald, Poundland’s UK country manager, in a statement widely reported by local and national outlets. He added, “The special reductions, on top of the value we provide in every store, will help us leave locations we’re leaving with pride. And when we close our doors, we look forward to welcoming customers to one of the hundreds of Poundland stores we’ll continue to operate right across the UK.”
These words echo across the country as shoppers in places like Melton Mowbray, where the store only opened in October 2023 after taking over a former Wilko unit, see the familiar cycle of retail churn. As Melton Times reported, the Melton Mowbray branch will close on December 4, with all stock—groceries, clothing, health and beauty, and homewares—discounted until it’s gone. The Bexhill store at Ravenside Retail Park began its clearance sale on October 23 and will remain open until January 5, 2026, according to Sussex World.
For Poundland, the closures are part of a much larger restructuring effort that’s been in motion since early 2025. The company’s parent, Pepco Group, had previously taken over dozens of Wilko leases in a bid to soften the impact of that chain’s collapse, but the realities of the post-pandemic retail landscape—rising costs, shifting shopping habits, and fierce competition from online rivals—have forced tough decisions. By the end of September 2025, Poundland had already shuttered 57 stores, with another 11 closures placed on hold as lease negotiations and local trading reviews continued. The goal, as reported by The Sun and corroborated by multiple regional outlets, is to reduce the network from around 800 stores at the start of the year to between 650 and 700 by the end of the restructuring program.
The current wave of closures targets locations where leases are expiring or landlords have exercised their right to end agreements. It’s a strategic move, according to the company, meant to “simplify its retail network around its best-performing sites, securing the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of stores,” as stated in a company release cited by Sussex Express. The focus is now on ensuring that the remaining stores—many of them in high-traffic areas or communities with a strong customer base—can weather the economic storm and continue to offer the low prices that have defined Poundland since its first store opened in Burton-On-Trent in December 1990.
Yet for the communities losing their local branches, the impact can feel more personal. In Perry Barr, for instance, the closure marks the end of an era for shoppers who have relied on the store for affordable essentials. The same is true in Melton Mowbray, where Poundland stepped in after Wilko’s departure, only to face its own exit less than two years later. The Hailsham and Bexhill stores in Sussex are also set to close, with clearance sales already underway or about to begin, as reported by Sussex World.
Each store’s timeline is slightly different, but the pattern is clear: as soon as the clearance sale is announced, all stock is marked down, sometimes by as much as 40 percent, and the discounts remain in place until every last item is sold. The Perry Barr and Hailsham stores will both shut on November 2, Loughborough follows on November 14, New Malden on November 16, Dalston on November 24, Beeston on November 27, Melton Mowbray on December 4, Droitwich on December 9, Hempstead Valley on December 31, and Bexhill on January 5, 2026. The Walsall branch in the Digbeth market area is also holding a clearance sale ahead of its closure on October 29, as noted by NationalWorld.
The company’s UK country manager, Darren MacDonald, has been the consistent public face of the closures, repeating the message that while the decision to leave is never easy, the focus remains on delivering value to customers until the very last day. “We’re determined to say goodbye by offering even more amazing value to customers,” MacDonald reiterated in every statement, a refrain that’s become as much a part of the Poundland brand as its iconic green-and-yellow signage.
Behind the scenes, Poundland’s parent company has also changed hands. In June, Pepco Group sold the chain to Peach Bidco, a subsidiary of private equity firm Gordon Brothers, for the symbolic sum of £1, underscoring the financial pressures facing the discount retail sector. The hope is that by trimming underperforming locations and doubling down on stores that continue to draw crowds, Poundland can stabilize its business and remain a fixture on the UK high street for years to come.
For now, though, the focus is on managing the transition. The company says the clearance sales are a way to thank loyal customers while making the most of a difficult situation. As the final days tick down at each affected branch, shoppers are snapping up bargains and staff are preparing for the next chapter—whether that’s at another Poundland location or elsewhere in the retail world.
The closures are a stark reminder of the challenges facing brick-and-mortar retailers, especially those that have built their reputation on offering low prices in a tough economic climate. But as Poundland’s leadership is quick to point out, the brand isn’t disappearing entirely. Hundreds of stores will remain open across the UK, and the company says it’s committed to finding new ways to serve its customers, even as the landscape shifts beneath their feet.
For communities losing their local Poundland, the end of these clearance sales will mark the close of a chapter. But for the chain itself, the hope is that this painful process will lay the groundwork for a more sustainable future—one where the “everything must go” signs are, at least for a while, a thing of the past.
