政府部长将与 Poundland 高层举行紧急会谈政府将与折扣零售商 Poundland 的高层举行紧急会议，此前围绕该公司所有权的相互指责愈演愈烈。
Ministers to hold urgent talks with Poundland chiefs The government is to hold an urgent meeting with Poundland bosses amid growing recriminations over the discount retailer's ownership.
《天空新闻台》获悉，未来工作大臣凯特·迪尔登已要求与 Poundland 首席执行官巴里·威廉姆斯和财务总监肖恩·威尔斯会面。
Sky News has learnt that Kate Dearden, minister for the future of work, has requested a meeting with Barry Williams and Shaun Wills, Poundland's chief executive and finance chief, respectively.
白厅消息人士称，双方预计将在几天内会面，旨在探讨避免该连锁店倒闭的潜在途径。
Whitehall sources said they were expected to meet within days with the objective of discussing potential ways to avert the chain's collapse.
尽管该零售商目前的经营势头强劲，但其董事上周被迫提交任命破产管理人的意向通知，Poundland 正加速走向资不抵债。
The talks will take place with Poundland hurtling towards insolvency after its directors were forced to file a notice of intention to appoint administrators last week - despite strong momentum in current trading at the retailer.
Poundland 的倒闭将使该公司 1 万多个岗位面临风险，并威胁数百家门店关闭，加剧英国商业街的痛苦。
Poundland's collapse would put more than 10,000 jobs at the company at risk, and threaten the closure of hundreds of stores, deepening the pain on Britain's high streets.
《天空新闻台》上周披露，一直试图协商以偿债方式拯救该业务的马丁地产集团，仍有意从戈登兄弟手中收购 Poundland。戈登兄弟拥有 Poundland 刚刚超过一年。
Sky News revealed last week that Martin Property Group, which has been attempting to negotiate a solvent rescue of the business, remains interested in buying it from Gordon Brothers, which has owned Poundland for just over a year.
戈登兄弟现在面临来自整个政治光谱的紧急质询，质疑其对 Poundland 的管理，包括其是否故意将公司推向破产管理边缘。
Gordon Brothers is now facing urgent questions from across the political spectrum about its stewardship of Poundland, including whether it has deliberately steered the company to the brink of administration.
商业大臣乔纳森·雷诺兹周一对《每日电讯报》表示：“如果确实有收购报价摆在桌面上，本可避免破产管理的风险，那么所有权方面有严重问题需要回答，我希望紧急了解为何该报价未被接受。” 戈登兄弟抵制偿债交易，似乎与其要求全额即时偿还 3000 万英镑股东贷款存在不确定性有关。
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, told the Telegraph on Monday: "If it is true that there was a bid on the table that would have avoided the risk of administration, then the ownership has serious questions to answer and I want to know urgently why that bid wasn't accepted." Gordon Brothers' resistance to a solvent deal appears to relate to uncertainty over its demand for the full and immediate repayment of a £30m shareholder loan.
马丁地产集团提出，在该贷款 2030 年到期时全额偿还，或更早偿还一半。
Martin Property Group has offered to repay it in full when it falls due in 2030, or half of it sooner.
据《天空新闻》周五报道，Poundland 前所有者 Pepco Group 表示，如果能达成偿债协议，愿推迟偿还其在该贷款中占 750 万英镑的份额。
Pepco Group, Poundland's former owner, has offered to defer its £7.5m share of that loan if a solvent deal can be struck, Sky News reported on Friday.
MPG 重申的报价得到了多家 Poundland 主要供应商的支持，这些供应商如果在至关重要的圣诞旺季前几周眼看着连锁店陷入破产管理，将面临巨额损失。
MPG's reconfirmed offer is backed by a number of leading Poundland suppliers, who face losing substantial sums of money if the chain falls into administration just weeks before the crucial festive trading period.
另一种选择是拆分业务，Poundland 约 600 家门店中的数百家极有可能被 B&M、Iceland 和 Aldi 等竞争对手收购。
The alternative would be a break-up of the business, with several hundred of Poundland's roughly 600 stores likely to be acquired by rival retailers such as B&M, Iceland and Aldi.
但即便如此，这家员工总数约 1.05 万的连锁店仍可能有数千名员工在圣诞节前几周被裁员。
However, that could still leave thousands of the chain's roughly 10,500-strong workforce being made redundant just weeks before Christmas.
知情人士透露，MPG 的收购方案包含保留 Poundland 所有现有门店和员工。
MPG's bid includes preserving all of Poundland's existing stores and workers, according to insiders.
安迪·伯纳姆、首相及其他大臣的关注，预计将迫使总部位于美国的 Gordon Brothers 考虑放弃其在该贷款中的部分或全部权利。
Interest from Andy Burnham, the prime minister, and other ministers is likely to pile pressure on US-based Gordon Brothers to consider waiving part or all of its rights over the loan.
尽管去年出售后触发的关店计划已执行完毕，Poundland 仍是英国最大的综合商品零售商之一。
Even after a store closure programme triggered by its sale last year, Poundland remains one of the biggest general merchandise retailers in the UK.
其倒闭将是多年来英国主流商业街规模最大的零售倒闭案，也是自 2016 年 BHS 倒闭以来政治敏感度最高的案例。
Its collapse would be the biggest on the high street for years and easily the most politically fraught since BHS's demise in 2016.
上周四，负责运营 Poundland 拍卖的 Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) 发布声明，署名为 Williams 先生，称“尽管付出了巨大努力，仍未能为整体业务找到可接受的报价”。数小时后，声明重新发布，署名改为公司董事会。
Last Thursday, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), the firm which has been running an auction of Poundland, issued a statement attributed to Mr Williams saying that "despite enormous efforts it has not been possible to identify an acceptable offer for the business as a whole". Within hours, the statement had been reissued but this time attributed to the board of the company.
据称，Williams 先生及其财务总监 Shaun Wills 坚持确保员工本周能拿到工资，尽管他们在与 MPG 合作争取偿债协议的努力受阻于 Gordon Brothers。
Mr Williams and his finance chief, Shaun Wills, are said to have insisted on ensuring that staff would be paid this week, despite having their efforts to secure a solvent deal in conjunction with MPG thwarted by Gordon Brothers.
上周，三位重组领域的重量级人物在获任命为 Poundland 董事后的两周内辞职，以抗议 Gordon Brothers 推动该连锁店走向破产的做法。
Last week, a trio of restructuring heavyweights resigned as Poundland directors within a fortnight of their appointment in protest at Gordon Brothers' efforts to steer the chain towards insolvency.
据了解，Gordon Brothers 限制了对公司财务的使用权，实际上阻止了其管理团队进行日常付款。
Gordon Brothers is understood to have restricted access to the company's finances, effectively preventing its management team from making routine payments.
商业、创新、科学和贸易部周一拒绝置评，而 Gordon Brothers 无法联系到以置评。
The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade declined to comment on Monday, while Gordon Brothers could not be reached for comment.