Loss of Poundland is very sad, say shoppers

Poundland is closing down stores as part of a nationwide restructure

People in a city said they were "very sad" at the loss of a second budget retailer from a shopping area.

Poundland has occupied a unit in the Ortongate Shopping Centre in Peterborough since 2023, after the space was left empty by Wilko.

The store will close on 24 August under restructuring plans.

Kirsty Knight, an Independent councillor for Orton Waterville on Peterborough City Council, said the closure was going to be an "absolute blow" for residents.

"To have Wilko go, then Poundland come in, then for that to go – the residents are upset and very sad," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

North West Cambridgeshire MP Sam Carling said it was "another reminder of the pressure local centres are under".

Big brands

Knight suggested a supermarket or clothes shop should replace Poundland and that the "wrong shops" were going being opened.

"We had a cosmetic surgery from London in there and that's not Orton," she said. "That didn't last long and it closed."

"There's now a betting shop ready to go in, but we've just lost one.

"I just feel they're not really listening to the residents, because what's needed is a shop like Aldi or Lidl or a clothes shop."

Julie Stevenson, also an Independent councillor for Orton Waterville on the authority, agreed that a clothes shop would be an appropriate replacement.

"We need to attract some big brands, somehow," she said.

"I know the team at Ortongate work very hard to try and fill all of those units and also open it up to the community as well," she added

Three Poundland stores remain open in Peterborough at the Hereward Cross Shopping Centre, Bretton Centre and Brotherhood Retail Park.

Darren MacDonald, Poundland's retail director, said closures across the country were "sincerely regrettable" but necessary to secure the future of hundreds of stores and thousands of jobs.

Ortongate Shopping Centre was approached for comment.