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big interview Barry Williams
James Halliwell
we did in Q1. There was a lot of noise about Poundland
and Steinhoff in the marketplace, but everyone stayed
focused and we delivered a great number.”
Williams has “very little” insight as to how the situ-
ation is developing, which is “part of the challenge.
There is very little information and these discussions
are happening thousands of miles away. But whatever
those discussions are, or where they are taking place,
they don’t matter to a customer in Wolverhampton. It’s
really good times at Poundland and we have fabulous
plans for the months ahead, so what I can predict is our
continued success. What I can’t predict is what is going
on at Steinhoff, which is way above my pay grade.”
Steinhoff’s share price collapse wasn’t the only rea-
son Poundland hit the headlines over the festive sea-
son, after a seasonal social media campaign showed
Poundland’s elf mas-
cot ‘tea-bagging’ a doll
wearing a ‘power’ t-shirt.
Twitter was outraged. The
Women’s Equality Party
dismissed it as a “pathetic
attention grab” while
another tweet said it was
a ‘middle finger up at the
#metoo movement’. The
ASA is set to investigate.
“I thought it was fabulous,” says Williams. “It was
never our intention to offend, but some old-fashioned
British humour never goes amiss. [Comedian] Jason
Manford supported it and tweeted a poll to his follow-
ers and over 80% came out in support of it.”
Elsewhere on Twitter it’s not hard to find shoppers
grumbling about the loss of its historic round-pound
price point. In March 2017, products for £2 and £5
appeared, its first-ever deviation from £1, barring a
few special deals. In the run-up to Christmas it was
offering products for £8 and £10 and trialling a double
blow-up mattress for £99 in 20 stores. Is Williams con-
cerned Poundland is abandoning its USP and enter-
ing into a war with B&M, Wilko and Home Bargains?
On the contrary. “Ninety per cent of our stock is still
at £1, and 90% of our sales are still at £1. It’s a reallyKeeping the price
right at Poundland
Despite parent Steinhoff’s troubles Poundland had
a happy Christmas, all while moving away from its
USP. MD Barry Williams explains how and why
L
ife at Poundland is never dull. In 2016
it was struggling, now sales are soar-
ing. Throw in a tiff over a Toblerone, an
explicit elf, a risky move towards multi-
pricing, the implosion of parent com-
pany Steinhoff, and it’s been a lively few months in
charge for MD Barry Williams.
Steinhoff’s struggle is the big one. The South African
retailer snapped up Poundland for £610m in 2016 and
Poundland thrived, swinging negative 5% like-for-likes
into a 2.5% uplift. “Exciting times,” Williams told The
Grocer in late November. “Steinhoff give us the oppor-
tunity to dramatically grow this business.”
Days later Steinhoff, a global retailer operating in 40
countries, imploded after an accounting scandal saw
its CEO resign and its shares dissolve. Retail analysts
believe Poundland will be
sold. To add to the drama,
as The Grocer revealed,
Poundland’s credit cover
was subsequently down-
graded, raising the pos-
sibility of empty shelves
at Christmas. Sources told
The Grocer some suppli-
ers were “turning their
trucks around and not
delivering”.
“That’s a little extreme,” says Williams. “There were
no handbrake turns on the motorway. Our performance
wasn’t impacted and availability in our shops is abso-
lutely fine. There was some inevitable disruption but
I was delighted by the support we got from the vast
majority of our supplier base. It’s at times like that you
know who your real friends are.”
Last week a £180m loan by US investment firm
Davidson Kempner shored up the credit situation, but
a sale still looms. Given how well it was going, how does
Williams feel about the prospect of new ownership?
“My view is really simple. Irrespective of what the
ownership structure of Poundland looks like, now or
in the future, it is all predicated on a really strong busi-
ness. So my focus is 100% on delivering the numbers
“There was a lot of noise
about Poundland and
Steinhoff, but everyonestayed focused and we
delivered a great number”