A MUCH-LOVED business in Basingstoke is closing permanently, it has been revealed.

Poundstretcher in Hatch Warren Retail Park is permanently closing on October 13, just a year after its Andover branch closed.

This means the nearest Poundstretcher store to Basingstoke is now in Newbury.

There are signs outside the Hatch Warren store announcing the closure of the store.

A warehouse sale is also going on with a 50 per cent discount on all products.

READ MORE: 'Store closing' signs go up in Andover's Poundstretcher

Manager Rosalie Shannon, who joined the store during lockdown, said the shop has a lot of regular customers who are sad to see the business go.

“A lot of people say that we sell stuff that other places don't,” she said.

“It's been really a short notice for us. We found out on Monday about the store closure and on Tuesday we went 50 per cent. It was that quick.

“The management did say that the lease was up and they were trying to renegotiate the lease, but I think the rent was still too high."

The store has 10 staff who found out about the store closing only a week ago.
Some of the staff are not sure about their futures yet, while a couple of them have got jobs at B&M.

“Our management team did say that they will try to relocate us, but only two of us have been here long enough to get redundancy. So, most people are probably going to try for other options,” Rosalie said.

“To be fair, I’m glad that they are closing now and not after Christmas. Because if they had decided to stay open and make some money during Christmas, then the staff would have found it hard to find jobs when they are laid off in January. It could have been so much worse.

“On the other hand, a lot of people are recruited for Christmas now. So, from the staff point of view, this was actually the best time for us.”

Poundstretcher opted to launch a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in July 2020 after the impact of Covid-19 on store footfall “exacerbated” problems after a decline in profitability in recent years.

The firm entered into the CVA deal with its creditors, including landlords, with over 90 per cent voting in favour.

Its proposals said rents would be paid on 253 ‘at-risk’ sites for an initial six-week period, but that the future of these “will depend on the commercial merits of each store” in collaboration with landlords, casting a shadow over their long-term future.

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It is understood that more than 2,000 people work across the 253 stores, with 5,500 people employed by the group as a whole.

The deal also secured rent cuts of between 30 to 40 per cent for 84 of its 450 stores, while around 94 stores continued to pay the same rent.

Poundstretcher has been contacted for a comment.