Retail sector charity refuses to back Poundland owner's boss

Britain's leading retail charity has refused to give its public backing to the executive at the centre of the Poundland insolvency crisis amid intense political scrutiny of the US investment firm's conduct.

Sky News can reveal that Poundland only joined The Retail Trust, which has been in existence since 1832, after Gordon Brothers acquired the discount chain last year.

Sources said the alliance between the two organisations was facilitated by Mark Newton-Jones, the former Mothercare boss who now runs Gordon Brothers' operations in Europe.

Mr Newton-Jones is listed as an ambassador to The Retail Trust on its website, which a spokesman for the charity confirmed on Monday was up to date.

His status in the charitable role is likely to come under pressure if Poundland is plunged into administration as early as this week.

A notice of intention to appoint administrators expires on Thursday, and Poundland's directors will be unable to seek an extension to it unless they are confident that creditors' interests would not be compromised by doing so.

If they cannot be satisfied that that is the case; they would have no choice but to proceed with the appointment of administrators.

That would pose a serious threat to roughly 10,500 jobs just weeks before Christmas, and leave Poundland's 600 stores in the UK and Ireland open to being cherry-picked by high street rivals.

Martin Property Group, the Northern Irish company which wants to buy Poundland as a going concern, wrote to the retailer's advisors on Friday to call for funding to be urgently released by Gordon Brothers in order to replenish stock levels.

Leading suppliers say that unless millions of pounds of funding held within Poundland's bank account is allowed to be accessed by its management team in the next couple of days, a viable solvent takeover will become impossible.

Gordon Brothers has rejected a number of going concern offers for Poundland on the basis that it would not receive adequate repayment of its share of a £30m shareholder loan for which it paid just £1.

The US investor then accused management of breaching the terms of Poundland's borrowing facilities and subsequently froze access to them.

That decision left Poundland chief Barry Williams and fellow director Shaun Wills with no choice but to file the notice of intention to appoint administrators, according to people familiar with the process.

Mr Newton-Jones will appear before MPs on the business and trade select committee on Wednesday to explain the firm's conduct.

Sources said its decision to freeze Poundland's access to funding, leaving it unable to pay suppliers or place new orders, was incompatible with Mr Newton-Jones's role as an ambassador to a charity which promoted the welfare of those working in retail.

The Retail Trust, in its own words, exists to provide workplace and financial support to employees across the UK retail sector.

It also provides retirement living estates for people who have previously worked in the industry.

Among the charity's other ambassadors are Helen Dickinson, who runs the British Retail Consortium, and Helen Connolly, who recently left her role as chief executive of New Look to run George, the Asda-owned fashion brand.

The Retail Trust did not respond to emails asking if it continued to support Mr Newton-Jones's continued role as an ambassador for the charity.

Andy Burnham and Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, have both weighed in on the Poundland crisis, but it remains unclear whether the government plans to do anything meaningful to support the chain.

Poundland operates a distribution centre in Mr Burnham's Makerfield constituency.

Gordon Brothers has been contacted for comment.

Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, accused Mr Newton-Jones of hypocrisy on Monday.

"He parades himself as an ambassador of a charity caring about retail staff, whilst being simultaneously happy to dump thousands of Poundland staff on the dole for the sake of a few extra quid.

"If he won't resign, The Retail Trust should publicly fire him from being their ambassador."

(c) Sky News 2026: Retail sector charity refuses to back Poundland owner's boss