DEALZ STAFF IN Ireland are “in the dark” about the future of the company and their jobs as UK arm Poundland, owned by the same parent company, is potentially edging towards insolvency. 

Owners Gordon Brothers on Thursday moved to appoint administrators AlixPartners to the business, which will give the business 10 working days to secure a sale deal without being pursued by creditors. 

The Board of Poundland Limited issued a statement on Thursday evening which said that over the last two months it has been working on a “formal sale process for Poundland” but that despite “enormous efforts” they haven’t had an “acceptable offer” for the business as a whole. 

The board said that it has had different offers that cover a significant part of the business which it believes would offer the best prospects for “shareholders, creditors and to preserve jobs”. 

The move means that around 12,000 staff in the 600 stores Poundland operates in the UK have had their jobs once again thrown into uncertainty. 

Meanwhile in Ireland, Dealz staff are also in the dark about what the UK move means for them. 

One store manager who spoke to The Journal said that managers nationwide had a call today, but none had any information on what the appointment of administrators in the UK will mean for them. 

“No one has any information or knows what this will mean for us, so we’re just waiting to find out,” they explained. 

“All we know is what has been reported in the media, we’ve had no separate update from the owners today,” the staff member said. 

Irish staff went through the same worries in 2025 when the business went through a distressed sale process.

Gordon Brothers acquired Poundland and its subsidiaries, including Dealz Ireland, In 2025 for the nominal sum of £1 from previous owners, the Pepco Group, as the businesses were struggling financially. 

The discount chain store Dealz has over 60 locations in Ireland and employs hundreds of staff. 

Their jobs seemed on uncertain ground last year during the sale process, but ultimately the Irish arm of the retailer was also saved in the sale to Gordon Brothers. 

Dealz has operated in the Republic of Ireland for 15 years. 

Restructuring of Poundland’s portfolio in the last year has mainly seen UK stores close their doors, although some shops in Ireland have been closed down too, including the Dealz that operated in the Merchant’s Quay shopping centre.