Poundland is to temporarily close three Cumbrian stores as it responds to the coronavirus pandemic.

The store on High Street in Whitehaven; on Scotch Street in Carlisle and on Hindpool Retail Park in Barrow part of 32 stores which closed its doors today.

Staff at the affected stores are to be asked to voluntarily agree to be furloughed, receiving 80 per cent of average earnings in line with the Government's Jobs Retention Scheme.

Poundland has given these three reasons for the temporary closures:

  • The store is located in a retail park or shopping centre instructed to close by a landlord/business requirement;
  • There are a number of stores in the same area and closing will assist to streamline distribution operations;
  • There are not enough colleagues available to staff the store.

Dave Gill, national officer for the union Usdaw, said: “This is clearly a difficult time for shopworkers on the frontline 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.”