List of discount shops in the United Kingdom

This is a list of the current and defunct discount chains of the United Kingdom. This list does not include discount supermarket chains which can be found at list of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom.

List of current discount shops

Brand Image Founded
/ Came
to UK 		Owner # of
shops 		Notes
B&M 1978 B&M European Value Retail S.A. 800+ The business was founded by Malcolm Billington as Billington & Mayman and the first store opened in Cleveleys, England, in 1978 and was acquired by Simon and Bobby Arora from Phildrew Investments in December 2004
Bargain Buys 2013 Fortress Investment Group 75 Brand launched by Poundworld founder Chris Edwards to replace former DiscountUK brand, which closed with failure of parent company. Restarted as a sister brand by Poundstretcher.
Boyes 1881 Boyes family 76 Family owned discount shops department store chain based in Scarborough. Stores primarily in the North of England and East Midlands.
The Factory Shops c.1980s The Factory Shops Essex Ltd 5 Family run Essex-based discount shop[1]
Home Bargains 1976 TJ Morris 539
In-Excess UK 4 Discounter based in Hampshire and Dorset
The Original Factory Shop 1969 Duke Street Capital 200- [2]
OneBeyond 2018 Christopher Edwards Sr. 54
Poundland 1991 Steinhoff 450+ Largest single price discounter in the UK
Poundstretcher 1981 Fortress Investment Group 400
Proper Job 1997 Tilley Family 10 Father and son Ray and Peter Tilley started Tilley's Tools in Cornwall, before running it as a wholesale business from Weston Super Mare. Proper Job was started in 1997 is based in Somerset.[3][4]
QD stores QD Commercial Group Holdings 25 Discount group based mainly in East of England & the Home Counties
Savers Health & Beauty 1988 A.S. Watson Group 410 Discount branded health, home and beauty.
The Range 1989 Chris Dawson 148 Discount home and hardware originally called CDS Superstores
This Is It Famous Value Shops 6 Chain of discount shops located in Devon, Dorset and Somerset[5]
Tiger 2005 Zebra A/S 46 Danish discount shop based primarily in the South East
Trade Counters c.1990s 2 South Essex based home and hardware discount shop with at one time five shops
Trago Mills Early 1960s 3 South West based discount department stores
Value House Shops 3 South West based Home & Garden discounter, owned by the Ford Family of Ford & Lock / Brian Ford Discount Superstore fame.[6]
Yorkshire Trading Company 1964 Nichols Family 35 (including 1 Goodwins branded store)

List of defunct discount shops

Discount
shop 		Image Founded
/ Came
to UK 		Closed
/ Brand
discontinued 		Owned by Number
of
shops 		Notes
99p Stores 2001 2016 Lalani family 259 99p Stores purchased by Poundland in 2015 rebranded as Poundland
Alworths 2009 2011 18 Rebranded from Woolworths, entered administration in 2011
Bargain Crazy
Barmy Bobs Trading name of Yorkshire Trading Company that was phased out
Basildon Stores 2012 5 Discount home, garden and hardware chain based in South Essex, closed due to retirement
Bewise 2006 Hamsard 2353 200 Discount homeware and clothing retailer, went into administration 2006, some shops were purchased by new chain Store Twenty One[7]
The Big Label 2009 5 Formerly QS Discount, owned by QS Stores; owned five shops in Blackburn, Sale, Atherton, Warrington and Chorley
CDS Superstores 1989 Chris Dawson Discount chain rebranded as The Range
DiscountUK 2011 2013 Chris Edwards and Chris Edwards Junior 41 Re-branded as Bargain Buys
Family Bargains 2010 2016 Poundland A sister brand of the 99p shop, which was rebranded as Poundland Plus after 99p Stores' purchase.
Glyn Webb 2006 22 Former discount DIY chain[8]
Grandfare 1967 Early discount store in Shiprow, Aberdeen, which became What Everyone Wants.[9]
HEMA 2014 2021 Lion Capital LLP 9 London-centric Dutch discount shop that started in Amsterdam in 1926[10]
House of Holland c.1980s South of England-based discount department store went into administration late 80s[11]
Hypervalue 1980 2009 Hilco Discount chain mainly located in South Wales, but had shops as afar as Southampton, bought by Hilco in 2006 before going into administration
...instore 2002 2007 instore plc ...instore was a new corporate name that failed for £-stretcher business – name reverted to Poundstretcher
Max 99p 2013 2018 4 Family owned chain of discount shops located in Peterborough, Chelmsford, Pontypridd and Woolston. Went into liquidation in 2018.[12]
JC Nicholls Trading name operated by the Yorkshire Trading Company that was phased out.
One Up 1993 16 Clothing and Home discounter created by Storehouse plc, sold off in 1995 for £20m[13][14][15]
Parker Franks Owned by Philip Green Northwest-based discounter of homewares and clothing; changed its name to Xception[14][16]
Poundworld 1974 2018 TPG >300 Business started as market stall in Wakefield; branded Poundworld from 2004. Also traded as Poundworld Extra and Poundworld Plus
Quality Save 1974 2024 Richard Rudkin & Paul Rudkin 21 Business started as a market stall in Walkden, north-based discount chain. Taken over by Home Bargains and rebranded.
QS Stores 1932 2006 Hamsard 2353 143 QS started life as a clothing manufacturer. In 1960s they opened their first shop selling clothing rejected by main buyer Marks & Spencer. In 1980s the shop stopped selling seconds and went private in 1990. Was purchased by Hamsard 2353 in 2003 who brought it together with fellow purchase Bewise. Business went into administration in 2006. Some shops became part of Store Twenty One.[17]
Shop Direct Group 10 Discounter of surplus stock from within the Shop Direct family of companies
Store Twenty One 2007 2017 Grabal Alok 200 Discount clothing and homewares, created from the ashes of QS Stores and Bewise
Thing - Me - Bobs 2022 QD Commercial Group Holdings[18] 11 Stores purchased by QD in 2013. Moved to QD branding in 2022.[19]
Waremart 2009 Chain of discounters based in Yorkshire and northeast in former Woolworths shops
What Everyone Wants 1990 2003 Tradegro 130 Formerly What Every Woman Wants, a Scottish chain of discount shops that became UK national in 1990 after its purchase by Brown & Jackson, owners of £-Stretcher. Sold to Tradegro in November 2002 before going into administration a month later. Locations were bought by Poundstretcher and Bewise
Woolworths 1909 2009 Woolworths Group plc 807 Company went into administration, name lives on as a web-based retailer owned by Shop Direct Group
Xception Philip Green New name for northwest-based Parker Franks, a discounter selling a variety of clothes and homewares[14][16]
Your Home Stores Greater Manchester based discounter of homewares[16]
Your More Store 1991 2004 Tradegro 199 Set up Pepkor in 1991, the stores were based in Scotland and the North East of England. Bought by Brown & Jackson, owners of £-stretcher in 1997, before being sold to Tradegro in 2003 while in administration.[20]

References

  1. ^ "About The Factory Shops". The Factory Shops. TheFactoryShops.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  2. ^ "The Original Factory Shop". The Factory Shop Ltd. TheOriginalFactoryShop.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Somerset's Proper Job chain launches tenth store - DIY week p.7 April 2014". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Proper Job About Us". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  5. ^ "This Is It Famous Value Shops". ThisIsItStores.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  6. ^ "End of an era as Brian Fords closes - North Devon Gazette p.25 Jun 2010". Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Clothing chains join retail casualty list - The Guardian p.11 February 2006". TheGuardian.com. 11 February 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  8. ^ News, Manchester Evening (15 February 2007). "Redundancies as GlynWebb collapses". men. Retrieved 25 February 2018. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  9. ^ "50 year anniversary of cut-price retailer Grandfare's launch in Aberdeen". Evening Express. 18 October 2017.
  10. ^ "HEMA is coming to the UK". Style Arch. StyleArch.co.uk. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  11. ^ "House of Holland - Brighton". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  12. ^ "Max 99p - Companies House". Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Pleasant surprise in storehouse - The Independent p.26 May 1995". Independent.co.uk. 25 May 1995. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  14. ^ a b c Lansley, Stewart (8 September 2008). Top Man:How Philip Green built his High Street Empire by Stewart Lansley. Aurum. ISBN 9781845138059. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  15. ^ "BHS move one up - Housewares p.September 1993 Issue 102". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  16. ^ a b c "The Lost Precinct An A to Z of Defunct retailers". 18 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Clothing chains join retail casualty list - The Guardian p.11 February 2006". TheGuardian.com. 11 February 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  18. ^ "QD Stores - Store Finder". QD Commercial Group Holdings. QDGroup.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  19. ^ "QD Stores confirm closure of March Broad Street shop". Cambs Times. 23 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Brown & Jackson - Your More Store". Retrieved 8 May 2015.