Poundland struggling to keep prices down admits Grantham-born CEO

The end of the Poundland £1 bargain: Boss of High Street giant confirms store will push up prices despite pledge to ‘protect’ cash-strapped shoppers – becoming the latest budget retailer to struggle amid cost of living crisis

Andy Bond said it was ‘too early’ to say whether it would start to reduce prices

The owner of Poundland has confirmed it will not go back to selling items for a pound despite its pledge to ‘protect’ shoppers during the cost of living crisis.

Grantham-born Andy Bond, the executive chairman of Pepco, a £5billion Polish company which owns the discount retailer, said it was ‘too early’ to say whether it would start to reduce prices to ease the burden on cash strapped families.

The former Asda chief executive said there are still ‘tailwinds’, such as the increase in transport costs due to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, that are preventing the company from making reductions.

He told The Times: ‘While there is easing pressure in some parts of the business, I’m not sure that prices will necessarily go down.’

Poundland first ditched its ‘everything’s £1’ slogan in 2019 and then priced all products between 50p and £5.

The business was listed on the Warsaw stock market in 2021, with bosses claiming the move would allow them to offset rising costs and ‘protect prices for our cost-conscious customers’.

The owner of Poundland has confirmed it will not go back to selling items for a pound despite its pledge to ‘protect’ shoppers

Andy Bond, who is the executive chairman of Pepco, a Polish company which owns the discount retailer, said it was ‘too early’ to say whether it would start to reduce prices

He claimed that over the past two or three years, average prices have only increased by a ‘single digit’ and have ‘not gone up more than 10 per cent cumulatively’.

However he did say ‘some individual items that may have done across the basket’.

The 59-year-old recognised shoppers were finding it ‘particularly tough to make ends meet’ and pledged that prices would not go up in the next year.