Nearly all Yorkshire Poundland stores to stay open

Poundland is to keep all but one of its Yorkshire stores open after deciding to hibernate 44 stores.
Poundland has announced it will be closing some of its stores - but almost all of its stores in Yorkshire will be staying open.Poundland has announced it will be closing some of its stores - but almost all of its stores in Yorkshire will be staying open.
Poundland has announced it will be closing some of its stores - but almost all of its stores in Yorkshire will be staying open.

Only the Beverley Flemingate shopping Centre will be put into temporary hibernation, meaning that its stores in Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, York, Bradford, Harrogate, Doncaster, Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Bingley, Rotherham, Skipton, Barnsley, Mexborough, Keighley, Castleford, Pontefract, Wakefield, Scarborough, Bridlington and Whitby will stay open.

Poundland has identified Yorkshire as a key area for the company.

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A spokesman for the firm said: "While we're temporarily closing one store in the region, our colleagues in stores that remain open across Yorkshire are working hard to serve their communities with the essentials they need."

Poundland said it is replicating the measures it took during the lockdowns of 2020, by placing 44 of its 800 plus stores into temporary hibernation from the end of trading on Saturday, January 9.

The temporary measure reflects the 80 per cent drop in footfall at some shopping centres and high streets as the various lockdown rules in place across the UK take effect.

The firm said the move will protect the business in the short term, and helps ensure it is well positioned once the UK emerges from the pandemic.

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In the first 2020 lockdown, Poundland hibernated around 120 stores in March and was able to start reopening them from the end of May.

Poundland said hibernation allows it to focus colleagues in a slightly smaller number of locations and provide better service to communities in consolidated stores. In the majority of locations where Poundland is hibernating, there is another store that remains open nearby.

Colleagues in hibernating stores will be placed on furlough, protecting those roles for the future.

Any furloughed colleagues will retain their benefits and employment status and the firm said they will remain valued members of the team.

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Austin Cooke, Poundland’s retail director said: “We learned valuable lessons during the lockdown in March about how buying patterns change as people stick to Government advice to stay at home.

“Putting a small number of stores into hibernation helps protect them for the long term and focus our attention on the majority of stores that remain open to serve their neighbourhoods.

“We hope this lockdown is short and we can re-open our hibernating stores as quickly as possible and we remain grateful for the vital support schemes available to us that help protect jobs.”

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