More Misery on the High Street: Peterlee Poundland Set to Close Amid National Restructuring Plan..

The closure of the store in Peterlee's Castle Dene Shopping Centre comes amidst a national restructuring plan in a bid to prevent the struggling business from bankruptcy.

26th July 2025

Britain’s struggling High Streets are about to be dealt yet another blow, as budget retailer Poundland has now confirmed its Peterlee store in County Durham will be closing in August 2025 as the high street chain strives to stave of bankruptcy in a significant restructuring effort to keep the failing company afloat.

The closure's said to be part of a sweeping restructuring plan designed to stave off the threat of administration in a bid to return the company to a sustainable footing following the business seeing considerable competition in the retail market from high flyers such as B&M, & Homebargains..

Poundland is said to have revealed the closure dates of 40 stores across the UK, with a total of 68 shops expected to shut under the new cost-cutting programme, this includes several North East branches — including locations in Newcastle, Cramlington, Seaham, Sunderland, and now Peterlee — among those set to face the axe. Its claimed the Peterlee store located in the Castle Dene Shopping Centre is set to close its doors in August.

The Teesside & Durham Post understands that, for now, the Poundland store in Hartlepool remains open and is not included on the current list of closures. However, sources suggest this could change if the retailer’s recovery efforts fail to stabilise the business.

Last week, Poundland announced the closure of 25 stores, but this week then revised the closure plans to include a further 12 to the list. Three more stores have reportedly closed already, accelerating the timeline of a downsizing initiative that will see Poundland’s footprint on the High Street shrink to between 650 and 700 stores — down from nearly 800.

According to Poundland, the restructuring effort is an urgent response to “an extended period of under-performance” aiming to build “a financially sustainable operating model” for the future, with Poundland's owner, Pepco, reporting a net loss of of £44m pounds & operating revenues said to be down by almost 6.5% (£830million pounds) in the most latest reported financial year.

Staff at the affected locations were first told about the potential closures in June, and specific closure dates have now been confirmed during internal briefings.

Retail Director Darren MacDonald issued a statement acknowledging the hardship caused by the closures but insisted the move was necessary to protect the wider business.

“While our anticipated network of around 650-700 stores remains sizeable, it is of course sincerely regrettable that we’re closing a number of stores to allow us to get back on track,” he said. “We entirely understand how disappointing it will be for customers when a store nearby closes, but we look forward to continuing to welcome them to one of our other locations.”

Poundland says it is supporting affected employees through a formal consultation process and is exploring options for redeployment wherever possible.

The news comes amid broader turmoil on Britain’s High Street, where rising costs, increased taxes, reduced footfall, and changing shopping habits continue to pile pressure on household names with two stores in Hartlepool, Holland & Barratt as well as Clintons Cards all set to depart the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre in weeks, with news emerging a planned closure of Hartlepool's River Island Store could also be brought forward from its January 2026 date following a High Court petition by its creditors potentially accelerating the stores closure to just a matter of weeks.