The discount retailer, which also owns the Dealz chain of stores in Ireland, revealed its revenues had increased 17.4% to 4.8 billion euro in the year ending 30^th September 2022.

Reporting their “strong” strategic progress, the company enjoyed “record new store openings” with 516 net new stores opened, excluding the closure of 59 Fultons stores, and the renewal of 727 stores.

The company, which has 33 outlets in Northern Ireland, said it is “committed” to accelerating its profitable store roll-out programme, with an increased focus in Western Europe and an extensive refit programme in Central and Eastern Europe.

Commenting on the results, Trevor Masters, CEO Pepco Group said: “Despite industry-wide short-term challenges, Pepco Group delivered another year of good progress and resilient trading performance, driven by our successful and proven strategy.

“The expertise and dedication of our colleagues are central to the success of our strategy to be bigger, better, cheaper and simpler. We remain committed to growing and supporting our people.”

In the long term, Pepco Group’s ambition is to operate approximately 20,000 stores across Europe and the company believes it can “further accelerate store growth” while also maintaining “compelling and consistent store economics”.

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The discount retailer confirmed it planned to take on around 1,200 seasonal colleagues to work in stores across the UK and Ireland in the run up to this Christmas.

The temporary shop floor roles will end on Christmas Eve, though some colleagues may be taken on permanently where roles are available.

Simon Wells, Poundland & Dealz’ people director said: “The extra recruits will help us make sure that our stores are great places to work and shop at the busiest time of year.”

In addition to Christmas Day, Poundland confirmed it had told its colleagues back in September that for the third year in a row all its stores will be closed on St Stephen’s Day and New Year’s Day to give colleagues a well-deserved break.

Customers can check their local store opening times over the Christmas period on the Poundland website at https://www.poundland.co.uk/store-finder/.

As a thank-you to all 18,000 members of the Poundland and Dealz team for all their hard work, they will each receive a €30 voucher in the Republic of Ireland to spend in store between December and January and that their regular colleague discount will double from 10 per cent to 20 per cent during November.

“We really appreciate how hard colleagues work during the year and are closing the stores on the extra days over Christmas and New Year, so they enjoy a well-deserved break with friends and family,” added Simon.

“The vouchers and extra discounts are our way of saying thank-you and we know they’ll be appreciated.”

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The new opening is part of the company’s expansion and transformation programme and follows a series of store openings across Northern Ireland.

A number of the positions have been filled by some of those who lost their jobs when other businesses closed in Omagh recently.

Poundland’s new 7,600 sq ft store will be located at the former Menary’s shop at the Showgrounds Retail Park.

The new Omagh store, will also have one of the largest PEP&CO fashion and home departments in Northern Ireland covering well over half the sales floor.

PEP&CO, which has become one of the top 20 clothing brands in the UK, despite launching just seven years ago, is on a mission to help families spend less on clothing.

In Omagh there will be a wide range of PEP&CO clothing for the whole family, including womenswear, from jeggings to dresses, menswear, from polo tops to jeans, and kids’ clothing from PJs to school wear.

Omagh will also feature a selection of chilled and frozen food for shoppers as it extends into new categories to help families save money.  Poundland’s frozen food sales are growing rapidly as customers look to manage their household budgets by minimising waste.

It will also have the very latest PEP&CO Home range, including throws, cushions, photo frames and decorative pieces to choose from.

Welcoming the new store to the town, Chairman of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Errol Thompson said he welcomed the Poundland investment in the district’s retail offering.

He said: “As Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and an Omagh Town Councillor, I welcome investment in the retail sector in Omagh, the county town of Tyrone, and within the wider District to boost our local economy, ensure our towns and villages remain vibrant and create jobs for our residents.

“It is important that we continue to support and invest in our towns and villages as we continue to move forward following the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Poundland’s Country Manager, Olivia McLoughlin, said: “We’re delighted to be opening another store in Omagh and proud to be able to create up to 25 new jobs, especially for those recently made unemployed when other businesses closed.

“We’re proud to be expanding, growing and creating opportunities right across Northern Ireland.

“We can’t wait to bring Omagh customers the best we can offer under one roof in our new store.

“We know the rise in cost of living is a big deal for customers at the moment – through the amazing value we offer, we’ll do all we can to help.

“We are looking forward to taking our place alongside our new neighbours at Showgrounds Retail Park and to playing a prominent role in the Omagh community.”

Now part of Pepco Group with over 3,500 stores across Europe (as of 31 January 2022), Poundland also trades internationally through its Dealz brand

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The promise comes as it reported an increase of 17.5% in first-half revenue, driven by new store openings.

The group, which listed on the Warsaw stock market last May, said it would continue to drive its growth agenda while cutting the costs of doing business.

“This will enable us to offset the majority of our input inflation, allowing us to protect prices for our cost-conscious customers,” said interim chief executive Trevor Masters.

He warned that the market Pepco operates in is likely to stay volatile in the near term, because of inflationary pressures and the conflict in Ukraine, which borders three of the company’s largest operating territories.

Inflation in Ireland hit a 22 year high of 6.7% in March, while UK inflation hit a 30-year high of 7% in March.

In the 19-country euro zone it surged to 7.5% in March, hitting another record, with months to go before it is set to peak.

Pepco said revenue totalled €2.37 billion in the six months to March 31 as it opened 192 new stores, taking the total to 3,696 across 17 countries.

It said like-for-like sales growth was 5.3%, driven by growth of 12.1% in the second quarter.

Pepco, which does not trade online bar a small Poundland trial, forecast first-half core earnings (EBITDA) within a range of €342-350m.

“Within this range, the group remains on track to meet guidance for the full year in the absence of any further significant deterioration in the macro environment,” it said.

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The acquisition of Poundshop.com is the next step in the transformation of Poundland and will provide the infrastructure to power a national roll-out of its own pilot ecommerce operation, the company said.

Founded in 2014, Poundshop.com has grown to be the UK’s largest online-only value retailer. Poundshop.com has almost 400,000 customers across the UK and 65 colleagues at its distribution centre and head office in Wednesbury, West Midlands, just a few miles from Poundland’s own customer support centre in Walsall.

Poundshop.com chairman, Steve Smith, and CEO Chris Maddox will act in an advisory capacity to help smooth the integration which will be led by Poundland retail and transformation director Austin Cooke who in turn will lead the day-to-day operation of Poundland’s online business.

The deal includes Poundshop.com’s intellectual property, its tried and tested online platform, the picking and fulfilment operations in Wednesbury and its customer database.

Poundland will retain all of the current Poundshop.com colleagues and during the integration process Poundshop.com will continue fulfilling customers’ orders as normal.

Expansion

Run by an experienced management team, Poundshop.com has expanded rapidly and last year alone saw sales more than double. It will continue trading under its own brand in the immediate term and will benefit from Poundland’s extended range and purchasing power to bring customers even more choice and value.

Poundland plans to build on the experience of Poundshop.com to develop further and scale up its own online operation which has started as a pilot in selected postcodes in Birmingham and Walsall and has now been successfully extended across the Midlands and into South Yorkshire.

Demand for Poundland’s pilot online service has been strong and has created excitement across the country for customers eager to access the service.

Helped by this acquisition, Poundland plans to widen its online offer, both in terms of ranges, adding PEP&CO clothing and homewares, and geographically, including extending beyond the UK and offering a Dealz online service for The Republic of Ireland.

After China and the US, the UK is the third-largest ecommerce market in the world, according to eMarketer’s research in 2022.  It has always enjoyed a high penetration of online shoppers alongside physical retail which still accounts for the majority of sales.

The acquisition will accelerate the pace of the company’s plans to make its offer available on the web and means customers nationwide can look forward to shopping with Poundland at the click of a button in the near future.

The rollout of the online offer complements the opening of new stores and the expansion of ranges – from PEP&CO clothing to chilled and frozen food – as Poundland brings value for money shopping to even more customers at a time when every pound counts.

Barry Williams, Poundland managing director, said: “It’s great to warmly welcome the Poundshop.com team to Poundland. This acquisition puts power and pace behind our aspirations to make our amazing products and value available to customers across the UK and Ireland, however they choose to shop.”

Poundshop.com sells branded consumer products priced between £1 and £5 and typically below high street prices.

While it appeals to a broad range of shoppers and age groups, three quarters of its customers are female, and is particularly popular with 25–44-year-olds.

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