Pepco Group, the owner of value chain Poundland in the UK, has reportedly called in advisors to address the problems at the British retail business that has been underperforming for some time now.

Sky News reported that consultants from AlixPartners are looking at the operation with a mission to address the sales slump. But it’s believed that the remit could go further and questions have been raised over its future ownership.

City sources told the news organisation that Pepco could look at more fundamental changes for Poundland and suggested that an attempt to sell it could lie ahead, or a restructuring process such as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) that may include store closures.

Sky said AlixPartners was formally engaged last week and the fact that it’s still in the early stages of its consulting process means that no decisions have been taken. For now, the focus is on improving its customer proposition and overall performance. No sale process is believed to be under way at present.

But store closures look like they could be a possibility given that the company trades from 825 locations across Britain. It saw around €2 billion worth of sales last year (the parent company reports in euros as it’s listed on the Warsaw stock exchange).

Although Pepco’s other operations performed well at Christmas, Poundland saw like for like sales falling 7.3%. The company’s clothing offer has been a particular problem.

Pepco hasn’t commented on the Sky story specifically apart from comments already made in its results statements.