Poundland is reportedly preparing to enter administration after its owners, who acquired the discount retailer for £1, turned down a proposed rescue deal.

The company, which employs approximately 12,000 people, is expected to file a notice of intention to appoint administrators. The move follows a year of unsuccessful efforts to revive the business, despite up to £80million being made available in financial support.

If the High Court approves the notice, Poundland will gain temporary protection while it searches for another buyer or rescue arrangement. The preferred offer was rejected by US owners Gordon Brothers.

The decision has angered Poundland executives, who had backed a takeover proposal from Martin Property Group.

Gordon Brothers rejected the proposal, which would have preserved the retailer as a whole, because Martin Property Group would not agree to settle a £30million shareholder loan inherited when Poundland was purchased in June 2025.

Managing director Barry Williams described the crisis to staff as ‘unexpected, unwanted and wholly avoidable’.

Three directors brought in only two weeks earlier to supervise a possible sale have resigned in protest.

With unions warning that thousands of jobs could be at risk before Christmas, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has written to Gordon Brothers demanding an explanation for its decision.

Poundland abandoned its ‘where everything’s £1’ slogan in 2019 as it broadened its product range. The retailer now has around 600 shops and two distribution centres, including one in Andy Burnham’s Makerfield constituency.

Following the Gordon Brothers takeover last year, Poundland shut between 150 and 200 stores, along with warehouses in South Yorkshire and the West Midlands. It recorded an £85m pre-tax loss for the year ending September 2025.

With no rescue agreement secured, Poundland is moving rapidly towards insolvency. The business could be broken up and sold in parts, or transferred to a new owner through a pre-pack administration. Both outcomes could result in further shop closures and job losses.

Several possible buyers are reportedly watching the situation, including discount chains Lidl, Iceland and B&M, Modella, the owner of TG Jones, and retail entrepreneur Chris Dawson.

Dawson, who made his name by establishing The Range, has increasingly become associated with rescuing struggling British retail brands. He bought Wilko and parts of Homebase as both businesses approached collapse.

The 74-year-old is widely known as the ‘Del Boy Billionaire’. He began his career selling goods on markets in Plymouth, drawing comparisons with David Jason’s fast-talking wheeler-dealer from Only Fools and Horses.

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Unlike his fictional inspiration, Dawson has achieved considerable commercial success, despite living with dyslexia. He cannot write and did not learn to read until he was 27.

Even in an era dominated by email, he prefers to conduct business face to face or by telephone.

That direct approach has served him well. Instead of travelling in a battered Reliant Regal, Dawson is known to drive a yellow Lamborghini Urus super-SUV featuring the personalised number plate DE11 BOY. The registration has previously been displayed on a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley.

Another plate, DAW50N, is currently attached to a bright orange Lamborghini Revuelto, while the billionaire is also known to have owned Range Rovers and a Ferrari 458 with a flashy paint job inspired by the Italian flag. 

Dawson is also famed for flying around in a Range-branded helicopter in order to visit his stores personally. 

He opened his first CDS Superstore – later renamed The Range – in Plymouth in 1989  and has openly likened his stores to ‘a poor man’s John Lewis’, once telling the Telegraph: ‘As each person comes in, I think: “Kerching, kerching, kerching!”‘

That hasn’t stopped it attracting well-heeled customers – The Duchess of Cambridge was seen doing last-minute Christmas shopping at the King’s Lynn branch near Norfolk in 2018.

In 2023, Dawson bought the rights to Wilko for £5million after the homeware chain collapsed, initially turning it into a web-only retailer before opening a handful of physical stores and 200 click-and-collect points across the country.

A year later he would do the same with Homebase, spending £30million on buying brand rights and 70 of its stores in a pre-pack deal. The brick-and-mortar shops were rebranded as The Range while the Homebase name has moved online.

Dawson is thought to have saved millions of pounds in tax by handing control of his businesses to his wife Sarah, who resides in Jersey and is the controlling party of parent firm Norton Group Holdings.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List, Dawson and his wife are worth a combined £2.65billion.

While buyers circle, a civil war is raging within Poundland’s walls – with upper management rounding on their Gordon Brothers paymasters after their preferred rescue deal collapsed.

Barry Williams, the company’s managing director, revealed to staff that Gordon Brothers had cut off the company’s access to cash for day-to-day operations.

In a memo to workers, he said the rejection of the Martin Property Group bid had been ‘unexpected, unwanted and wholly avoidable’.

He added: ‘As you all know, our sales are strong and our recovery is taking root. This business simply does not deserve to go into any kind of administration.’

Poundland and Gordon Brothers were contacted for comment. 

Antoine de Massy, a cousin of Prince Albert of Monaco, is believed to have died after falling 40ft in a public garden on Sunday.

Questions are also being raised about a possible connection to a cryptocurrency scandal, while a Ukrainian national has been arrested over the death.

De Massy’s body was found behind Monaco’s New National Museum, near Boulevard du Larvotto.

Reports say he was last seen staggering away from a nightclub during the early hours of Sunday.

The 29-year-old was reported missing after failing to appear for a family lunch, according to local newspaper Monaco Matin. His body was discovered soon afterwards.

Police arrested a Ukrainian national on Monday after CCTV showed him near the location where De Massy’s body was found.

Investigators determined that the 42-year-old had been in contact with De Massy. However, he declined to answer questions when he appeared before a judge on Wednesday.

The suspect remains in pre-trial detention and faces allegations of involuntary manslaughter and failing to assist a person in danger.

Autopsy findings indicate that the royal most likely died after falling approximately 40ft from a building in the area.

Meanwhile, rumours have emerged that the 29-year-old may have had ties to a cryptocurrency controversy.

An investigation by BILD reported that De Massy was active in Monaco’s blockchain sector. Blockchain is a shared digital database that records information across a network of computers.

He founded Instant Tech in 2021, a company designed to connect local businesses, merchants and customers for instant bookings and payments. He also co-founded the Association Cryptographique de Monte-Carlo.

An unnamed source told BILD that De Massy was rumoured to have links to the controversial cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto.

The Polish-founded company is being investigated by authorities after collapsing in 2026, leaving thousands of customers unable to access their funds.

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The reported losses are estimated at no less than 79.5million euros, while Polish authorities are investigating suspected fraud and money laundering.

No connection between De Massy and Zondacrypto has been proven. However, an insider close to the Grimaldi family told BILD that he was a prominent figure in Monaco’s technology community.

‘It shows that Prince Albert II had placed his trust in the ambitious young entrepreneur. Without the prince’s approval, Antoine would not have been able to take on these positions in the tech scene,’ the source said.

Meanwhile, Monaco has been under increased scrutiny by the Financial Action Task Force since 2024, and is on the international grey list of high-risk countries for money laundering.

The Financial Action Task Force has pointed to weaknesses in the fight against money laundering in the principality.

These include insufficient controls, shortcomings in investigations, and deficiencies in tracing criminal assets.

The prince’s palace announced De Massy’s death in a statement on Monday: ‘Their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlène were saddened to learn of the death of Antoine de Massy, the grandson of Princess Antoinette, the elder sister of Prince Rainier III.

‘A keen tennis player, he was part of a family history closely linked to the sport in the principality.

‘Their Highnesses share in the grief of his family and loved ones and offer them their sincere condolences at this painful time.’

De Massy played tennis professionally and moved to Florida with his family when he was younger to train at the prestigious Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, with hopes of making it to the Olympics.

In a 2012 interview with Vogue Italia, he said his dream was to ‘become number one in the world,’ adding, ‘even in the top 20 wouldn’t be bad!’

Despite his royal connections, he preferred to stay out of the spotlight in Monte Carlo’s social scene, according to BILD.

One of his last public appearances was at the traditional Te Deum Mass for Monaco’s National Day in November 2025.

His father, Baron Christian de Massy, is often referred to as the black sheep of the family, having been kicked out of school and banished to Argentina for causing too much trouble in his youth. 

Dubbed a playboy by local media, all four of his marriages ended in divorce. He is rarely ever seen at social events with the Monaco royal family.

Pigs that escaped onto a busy dual carriageway, bringing an A-road to a standstill, have been spared from slaughter after online donors stepped in to help.

The animals ran onto the A127 at Dunton, near Basildon in Essex, last week. They were seen weaving between vehicles, forcing the road to close for about two hours.

Fourteen pigs escaped, but five were shot by police at the scene because of safety concerns. It remains unclear where the animals had escaped from.

One pig, later named Abigail, took refuge in a local resident’s garden. She was taken to Tower Hill Stables in Asheldham before police could shoot her.

Martin Morgan, who founded the sanctuary in 1993, said in a Facebook video that Abigail was “safe now” but “very scared after being on the run trying to avoid rifles”.

He told the Daily Mail that her name was inspired by the A127, as A, B and G are the first, second and seventh letters of the alphabet.

Eight more pigs were due to be slaughtered on Tuesday, but local residents raised £6,000 through a GoFundMe appeal to pay for their care.

Mr Morgan initially expected to take in just one pig, after a resident contacted him to say the animal had ended up in her garden.

However, he agreed to take in eight more after learning they could lose their lives if a home was not found for them.

He told the Mail: “Support for the farm has dwindled since Covid, so taking them in was a difficult decision. We don’t actively look to take on animals unless it’s a desperate situation because we’re already struggling.

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“But when I was asked to take them otherwise they’d get shot, that’s a very difficult stress to live with.”

He added: “I didn’t sleep the night we were told about it because I did not think we could fit them in – like most sanctuaries, we are struggling.”

The sanctuary cleared a shed for the newcomers, who joined around 80 horses, 50 cows, 75 goats and hundreds of other rescued animals.

Mr Morgan believes Abigail is the mother of the other pigs because three young females immediately ran to her for comfort. Pigs can typically be hostile towards unfamiliar animals when they first meet.

The five males have been separated to prevent them from breeding. Mr Morgan said: “Whoever had these pigs before has been breeding willy nilly.”

He said the pigs were settling in well, adding: “They’re very friendly and seem quite happy.”

‘A couple of them are a bit scared so it’ll take them a couple weeks to calm down, but they’ll be fine. Pigs adapt to their surroundings pretty quickly.’ 

Mr Morgan, who looks after 400 animals, said the males arrived ‘underweight’ and females were in ‘good condition’. 

In a video shared to Facebook he called some of them ‘quite thin and tiny’ while others are ‘a little bit feisty’. 

He said: ‘we can’t save every animal, we know that we can’t change the world for every animal but we can change the world for every animal that we are able to rescue.

‘The pigs won’t know any different or how lucky they are.’

Mr Morgan added the farm spends £25,000 a month on food for the animals and donations are about helping to make ends meet.

‘The key thing is monthly support because it’s not just next month’s food bill we need to pay it’s the one after that… The monthly costs are every month. Without that support we’d have to close, so we’re very grateful.’

When Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen guided the first expedition of any kind to reach the North Pole, crossing the polar ice in the airship Norge in 1926, he did not demand that Norway alone claim the moment. As the vessel moved above the ice, he released the flags of Norway, Italy and the United States—honouring the two nations that had helped make the historic journey possible.

Nor did the descendants of Leif Erikson, the much earlier Norse explorer, spend centuries staging furious protests because American historians and textbooks overlooked his arrival in North America around AD 1000—roughly 500 years before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic.

Those two formidable Norwegian figures might both have offered Donald Trump a lesson in keeping his composure during a crisis.

The US president appeared to lose his on Sunday. Speaking at a rally in Port Huron, Michigan, Trump attacked the Nobel Peace Prize—an honour he has openly pursued—for being awarded to a woman he said “nobody had ever heard of”: South African human rights lawyer Navanethem “Navi” Pillay.

His harshest criticism, however, was directed at the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, which selected Pillay. “So I’m not in love with Norway,” Trump said. “Frankly, Norway sucks. Norway has become a s***house country, actually.”

“Now it’s crazy what’s going on out there. It’s called the world of politics.”

That very “world of politics” could soon deliver an even more painful setback to Trump’s pride—and to the broader narrative surrounding his second term in the White House—when voters go to the polls in next week’s midterm election. That may help explain why missing out on the Nobel Peace Prize, at a moment when he is eager for a political triumph, has provoked such fury.

At the Michigan event, Trump also floated the idea of allowing fewer Norwegian immigrants into the United States. “I didn’t get the Nobel Prize. So I don’t want anybody from Norway… I don’t want anything to do with Norway,” he said. Earlier this month, he called the decision to honour Pillay an “indelible stain on the country of Norway”. 

Washington insiders claim Trump is fixated on securing the Peace Prize—an award Barack Obama won during the first year of his presidency for promoting international diplomacy and a world without nuclear weapons. According to aides, senior State Department officials are constantly aware of the issue. One said Trump regards the prize as “the ultimate capstone to how history will remember him.” 

Apart from Obama, only two other sitting US presidents—Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson—have received the honour.

Trump spent much of last year seeking international backing for his candidacy, collecting nominations from officials in Pakistan, Cambodia and Israel, along with Republican politicians. He has pointed to what he describes as efforts to end conflicts, repeatedly claiming that he resolved eight wars and was “about to settle or win two more”—a reference to Iran and Ukraine.

Although 2025 laureate María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, handed her medal to Trump, the Nobel committee made clear that the physical gesture did not transfer the award. The Peace Prize remained Machado’s.

Trump’s latest remarks—and especially his suggestion of keeping Norwegians out of the United States—have drawn fresh mockery from his critics because he has previously urged the country to welcome more migrants from “nice” nations, including Norway.

In 2018, he reportedly complained during a White House immigration meeting about admitting people from “s***hole countries”, naming Haiti, El Salvador and several African nations. He then questioned why the US was not taking in more immigrants from Norway, whose prime minister he had met the previous day.

Six years later, at an event in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump again lamented that too few people were arriving from countries he considered desirable.

“And when I said, you know, ‘Why can’t we allow people to come in from nice countries’, I’m trying to be nice,” he told the crowd.

“Nice countries, you know, like Denmark, Switzerland? Do we have any people coming in from Denmark? How about Switzerland? How about Norway?”

Trump’s abrupt decision to demote the land of the Vikings, fjords and world-class skiing to ‘s***hole’ status was met with frustration at the government level as Norwegian officials said again that they have no influence over the decision on the Peace Prize.

‘He knows very well that the Nobel committee is independent,’ Espen Barth Eide, the Norwegian foreign minister, told his country’s public broadcaster NRK. ‘We have reminded him of that, in case anyone is wondering, and that is still the case.’

With a tact that suggested that the Norwegian politician didn’t want his country facing the Trump invasion threats that have come Greenland’s way, Mr Barth Eide tried to dismiss the US President’s churlish and foul-mouthed tirade as mere campaign rhetoric. He insisted Norway attached ‘great importance’ to its strong relationship with America, adding waspishly that Trump ‘is currently in the midst of an election campaign that perhaps isn’t going very well for his party, and that leads him to say a lot of things’.

Meanwhile, Norway’s Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, was too busy to respond to Trump’s toxic language. With some irony, given this is supposedly about world peace, he spent Tuesday joining Finnish president Alexander Stubb in a rare 90-minute phone call to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to discuss peace negotiations with Ukraine.

The Norwegians are famously a stoic bunch, not prone to emotional outbursts, and many must have felt that punching back at President Trump was beneath their dignity.

The country of 5.6 million people hasn’t exactly taken to the longboats over the insults – perhaps because they know that calling an affluent, peaceful and beautiful nation like Norway a ‘s***house’ is palpably ludicrous.

Boosted considerably by oil and natural gas revenue, Norway is among ⁠the highest-income countries as measured by GDP per capita. Its sovereign wealth fund posted record profit of 1.75 trillion Norwegian crowns ($184.3billion) for ⁠the first half of 2026.

And there are plenty more impressive statistics where that came from, as both Norwegian and American critics of Trump have been brandishing online.

The metrics that show Norway significantly outperforming the US include life expectancy (more than four years), infant mortality, adult obesity (the US has more than twice the rate), GDP per capita ($106,000 to $94,000), corruption perceptions, press freedom and the World Happiness Rank, which has Norwegians in sixth place and Americans in 23rd.

Another statistic that rather undermines Trump’s threat over Norwegian migration is that the flow is far stronger in the other direction.

According to the Oslo government, more Americans emigrated to Norway in 2025 than Norwegians emigrated to the United States. Last year, 1,529 American citizens moved to Norway, compared with 1,005 Norwegians who relocated to the United States.

‘Dear President Trump – a little perspective from Norway,’ posted Norwegian Magne Bjella on X. ‘Please don’t lose any sleep worrying about whether we are coming to America. I’m very happy here.’

Bjella then listed reasons including ‘healthcare that follows us through life’, ‘time to be parents’, ‘subsidized childcare’, ‘accessible higher education’ and ‘support when illness strikes’.

One Trump opponent made their point by posting a video on X of ‘Norway’s coolest toilet’, an extraordinary architect-designed outdoor building in a beautiful mountain setting with a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking a roaring river. ‘Here’s just one of the s***houses, Mr. President,’ scoffed the X poster.

Norwegian X poster Pal Johansen provided a few more figures highlighting what he saw as Norway’s superiority, including a murder rate which is a fraction of America’s, and a low rate of homelessness compared to the US.

Displaying more of the Viking ferocity of old, a popular AI-generated video on TikTok showed a smiling female Norwegian navy officer politely pointing out that the Norwegian government has no say over the Peace Prize before telling Trump: ‘Sir, you’re just a f***ing toddler throwing a tantrum over a trophy.’

In a long post on X, Peter Girnus, a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, reminded readers that President Trump did have the Nobel Peace Prize medal, at least in its physical form if not in status, thanks to last year’s winner.

‘You might think that holding a peace medal would make a man think about peace, even a little, even out of politeness,’ he said. Instead, Trump swiftly wrote to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and informed him that, having not been given the prize, ‘I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace’ and renewed his demand for ‘Complete and Total Control of Greenland’ (a territory controlled by Denmark not Norway).

‘Most laureates take years to disappoint us. This one did it in a long weekend, with someone else’s medal,’ Girnus added.

Norwegians last made a significant cultural impact in the US during this year’s soccer world cup when their fans became an instant social media hit by performing their ‘Viking Row’ ritual – pretending to row a longboat en masse – during their team’s campaign.

Video posts shared online yesterday showed American fans copying them – another blow to Trump’s insistence that Norway ‘sucks’.