Poundland temporarily closes stores at Sheffield's Meadowhall and Rotherham's Parkgate Retail Park

The stores, at Meadowhall and Rotherham have been shut by the company because they are both located on retail parks or in shopping centres, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) have claimed.

They are amongst 32 store closures nationally, including Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester and York.

A statement issued by the union says: “Usdaw has been briefed by discount retailer Poundland that they intend to temporarily close 32 stores. The company are asking employees to voluntarily agree to be furloughed and staff will receive 80 per cent of average earnings in line with the Government’s Jobs Retention Scheme.”

The company has stated that it will close stores if the store is located in a retail park or shopping centre instructed to close by a landlord, there are a number of stores in the same area and closing will assist to streamline distribution operations, or there are not enough workers available to staff the store.

Dave Gill, Usdaw National Officer, said: “This is clearly a difficult time for shop-workers on the front-line of providing essential services during the coronavirus emergency. We understand why the company feel the need to temporarily streamline the number of outlets and we have emphasised the need for furloughed workers to be volunteers. Usdaw continues in negotiations with the company, where we are calling for Poundland to top up the Government scheme, so that our members have no loss of income.”