Yorkshire firm buys Poundworld’s intellectual property
A Leeds-based property developer hopes to open 250 stores next year after buying the intellectual property assets of the failed discount retailer Poundworld Retail.
Manni Hussain, chairman of the Leeds-based 88M Group, which owns the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Belle Vue stadium, has vowed to make the Poundworld brand “great again”.
A spokesman for 88m Group this morning stated: “We hope to open 250 stores in 2019 throughout UK and Europe and 100 stores per year ongoing. [We are] also looking to open in the Far East.”
The deal – completed for an undisclosed sum – also sees his company, New Money, acquire the Bargain Buys brand.
Hussain added: “I am now looking forward to bringing the brand back to the high street and provide current and new customers with an unrivalled product offering at £1 or less.”
Wakefield-headquartered Poundworld was launched from a Wakefield market stall in 1974 by Chris Edwards Snr and his son Chris Edwards Jr. It collapsed over the summer as the high street came under increasing pressure. It was then owned by US private equity firm TPG, which acquired a majority stake in the business in 2015.
Edwards tried to save the chain over the summer but his offer fell short of what administrators Deloitte were looking for.
