The director of an enterprise AI firm could be key to a rescue deal for Poundland.
The stricken discount retailer could enter administration within days after owner Gordon Brothers rejected a rescue bid from its management team, backed by Ireland-based Martin Property Group, which would have saved its nearly 12,000 staff and potentially also a wider supplier base of 18,000 people.
The sticking point was demand for full repayment of a £30 million shareholder loan with any buyer of the business.
Now a new bidder, London-based Xyra Group, has reportedly offered to pay off £12.5m of this debt, with the rest deferred.
While the validity of the buyer is yet to be established – such as whether it has the funds – it has appointed a credible figure to its board.
Andrew Brode is a non-executive director at RWS, an enterprise software company founded in 1958 which has repositioned itself recently as a provider of AI solutions.
A major shareholder in RWS, he served as the Maidenhead-headquartered group’s executive chairman between 2003 – when he floated the business on London’s junior AIM market – and 2023, having led a buy-in of RWS in 1995.
Brode is also chairman of Learning Technologies Group Limited.
US-based investment group Gordon Brothers said Poundland, which it bought for just £1 last summer from Pepco Group, has faced years of instability and “remains challenged and vulnerable”.