Poundland boss Jim McCarthy to step down after decade at top

The discount retail sector was rocked as Poundland’s boss decided to hang up his pricing gun after 10 years at the helm.

Jim McCarthy said he would be retiring later this year as the company welcomed new chief executive Kevin O’Byrne.

He is a former Dixons executive and ex-chief executive of B&Q who missed out in the race for the top job at the DIY chain’s parent company, Kingfisher, to replace Sir Ian Cheshire when he stepped down two years ago.

O’Byrne will have a tough job winning over the City to the strengths of Poundland, as its shares have more than halved during the last 12 months.

He said: “I am very excited about joining Poundland, a business with a strong brand and great potential.”

The discount retail sector has become more ferocious during recent times and a prolonged takeover of the 99p Stores chain by Poundland last year has proved to be costly.

A Competitions and Markets Authority investigation over the sale lasted several months and Poundland revealed that 99p Stores was in a worst state than expected when the group finally took it over.

McCarthy also admitted earlier this year that Christmas had proved extremely challenging, due to fewer shoppers on the High Street, but also because of internal supply-chain mistakes.