Poundbakery has shut five of its high street stores across Britain in less than a fortnight, with all affected branches having traded for at least a decade.
The closures, which have taken place since August 27, include branches in Wolverhampton and Dudley, where shutters were pulled down abruptly, as reported by the Express & Star. Other affected stores are in Sheffield, Newcastle-Under-Lyme and Fleetwood.
A long-standing discount chain
Poundbakery is a discount chain selling £1.20 sausage rolls and £2 pasties, with 37 stores listed on its website. Considered the largest independent retail baker in the North of England, it has a widespread estate across the North West, the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Wales.
The budget bakery was founded in 2010 by Sayers, later merging with Sayers Bakery as a single corporate entity in 2019.
Wider restructuring at parent company
The closures come just weeks after Poundbakery's sister brand, Sayers Bakery, announced plans to close 19 of its 91 shops.
A spokesperson for parent company Sayers and Poundbakery Limited said: "Following a comprehensive review of our store portfolio, the company has concluded that a number of locations are no longer commercially viable."
"After careful consideration, the senior management has therefore proposed to close 19 underperforming shops at the end of August 2026, which is expected to result in approx 100 redundancies."
"This has come about after a very difficult trading period due to a number of factors, particularly a change in customer shopping habits, which has led to a reduction of people on the high street along with inflation on the cost of running the business, which has been difficult to pass on to customers whilst also maintaining sales volumes."
