POUNDWORLD staff at Rhyl’s Marina Quay have been reassured their jobs are safe –for the time being at least.

The discount chain, which serves two million customers a week from its 335 stores across Britain, went into administration after talks with R Capital, a potential buyer, collapsed.

It is believed Poundworld has been losing money for the past two years, with losses for the financial year 2016-17 of £17 million, up from £5.4m the previous year.

The Marina Quay store, which only opened in August last year, employs 12 people.

Poundworld also has branches in Bangor and Colwyn Bay and Rhyl employing a total of 21 staff.

A spokesman for administrators Deloitte said: “There are no redundancies or store closures planned at this time. Poundworld will continue to trade while a buyer for all or part of the business is sought.

“Like many high street retailers, Poundworld has suffered from high product cost inflation, decreasing footfall, weaker consumer confidence and an increasingly competitive discount retail market.”

The spokesman added: “The retail trading environment in the UK remains extremely challenging and Poundworld has been seeking to address this through restructuring its business.

“Unfortunately, this has not been possible.

“We still believe a buyer can be found for the business, or at least part of it, and we are keeping staff appraised of developments as they happen.”

Poundworld offers around 8,000 product lines mostly priced at £1, including groceries, toiletries, household cleaning and confectionery items.

The business has its head office and distribution centre in Normanton, near Wakefield in West Yorkshire. It employs in the order of 5,100 people.

In recent months, a number of national retailers, including Marks and Spencer, Mothercare, House of Fraser, Toys R Us, Carphone Warehouse and Maplin, have experienced financial difficulties.

In some cases the stores have closed and staff made redundant.

A number of underlying factors have been cited for the decline in retailing, including the growth of online sales, out-of-town shopping, high business rates and parking charges.