Poundland Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
Baroness Wheatcroft
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Poundland
Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts(2 days, 12 hours ago)
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Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)
My Lords, Poundland is owned by Gordon Brothers, which in turn is owned by Stone Point Capital. These companies are effectively private equity organisations and, as is so often the case, they load companies that they purchase with debt that cannot be serviced. Does the Minister agree that this is the essential problem at Poundland?
Lord Leong (Lab)
My Lords, I have I spent my working life building businesses and I support all forms of capital to help businesses to grow in scale. I recognise that there have been questions about Poundland, but our immediate priority is to establish the facts and support Poundland’s workforce. If incidents and wider questions such as the noble Baroness says do emerge from this case, of course we will consider them carefully.