Poundland to Launch £750m IPO with ex-Carpetright and Travelodge Bosses

Poundland, one of Britain's biggest discount retailers, has appointed a raft of former and current heavyweight goods and services chief executives in a bid to prepare for its £750m flotation on the London Stock Exchange.

In a statement, Poundland revealed that it has made a number of high level non-executive director appointments as it lays the groundwork to launch it's major initial public offering (IPO).

Poundland has snapped up the former Carpetright chief executive Darren Shapland as well as the former CEO of Travelodge Grant Hearn.

The group also added president and chief customer officer at Mondelēz International, formerly known as Kraft Foods, Trevor Bond and group HR director for Merlin Entertainments,Tea Colaianni to its board.

"I am delighted to welcome Shapland, Bond, Colaianni, Hearn to the Board," said Andy Higginson, chairman of Poundland.

"That Poundland has attracted non-executive directors of their calibre is a testament to the strength of the business. Their combined experience and retail insight will be invaluable to the board. I believe we now have an excellent board to take the company into its next phase as a public company."

Poundland is Europe's largest single price value general merchandise retailer and has over 500 stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Poundland sells quality top brands and own brand products all for the single price point of £1 each serves an average of 5 million customers every week.

It has a growth strategy of opening approximately 60 new stores every year and Poundland said it has exceeded this target for the financial year and created approximately 1,600 new jobs in the process.

In June 2010, Poundland was acquired by Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm.