Poundland has appointed former Wilko CEO Mark Jackson as its chief financial officer.
Jackson was chief of Wilko from January 2023 until its collapse into administration in August the same year.
He is understood to be a long-time friend of the business, having been one of the original founders of Pep&Co, Poundland’s sister clothing brand, in 2015.
Before his time at Wilko, Jackson was CEO at Bensons for Beds, where he helped engineer a turnaround as it moved from Steinhoff, the parent company it shared with Poundland at the time, to new investment firm Alteri.
Barry Williams – who was made permanent Poundland MD earlier this month as owner Pepco Group confirmed the retailer was up for sale – is understood to have been keen to bring Jackson on board because of his turnaround experience.
Read more: Poundland: who would buy it and what would they do?
Williams informed staff of Jackson’s appointment in a memo yesterday, Retail Week reported.
“Not only is Mark highly experienced in the kind of processes we’ll be undertaking, he’s also a long-term friend of our business,” said Williams. “His experience as a turnaround specialist will be invaluable to us as we move to rebuild the business.”
“We’ve a lot of work to do to get Poundland to a point where we can begin our recovery phase from a tough period – but I know with a clear action plan, the right backing and your support, we will put ourselves in the right position to do exactly that.”
Pepco Group said on 6 March it was “actively evaluating all strategic options to separate Poundland from [the] group during full-year 2025, including a potential sale”. It follows four successive quarters of weak trading at Poundland, linked to a disastrous transition to sourcing clothing and general merchandise at group level.
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