How Poundland grew from a market stall to a high street giant

Professor Sarah Montano, a retail expert from the University of Birmingham, said: "The real problem for Poundland is, when they first started it was really great because everything was £1, that was a really unique selling point for them.

"[Today] there's competitors which are offering very similar prices and for quite a lot of products they're offering them cheaper."

She added that some competitors had "really got their finger on the key trends".

In a statement, the board of Poundland Limited said it had been "working on a formal sale process for Poundland" and despite "enormous efforts it has not been possible to identify an acceptable offer for the business as a whole".