In for a Pound

Chris Edwards has gone from running a stall in the Wakefield markets to masterminding a single-price shopping chain with more than 300 stores across the United Kingdom. The remarkable retail rise to fame of his Poundworld business was fascinatingly featured in 2015's highly-rated BBC1 series, Pound Shop Wars--and while Chris opened up about his astonishing success story to the cameras, it was his 88-year-old mother Alice who truly became a cult figure. "I've always been driven by the fear of ending up skint!" says Chris, who admits he once risked losing not only his own home, but also the houses of both his brother and business partner Laurie and of his own mom and dad on a single risky deal. Now, his frank and inspiring autobiography reveals the rise and rise of the businessman from hard-working one-man band with just a single van to high street tycoon with a fleet of huge trucks and more than 6,000 employees. And somehow along the way the 65-year-old Yorkshireman also built a thriving nightclub business with no fewer than nine venues. In 2015, Chris sold 75 percent of Poundworld to American venture capitalists TPG for £150 million, but he is still in control and determined to drive Poundworld to new heights. This is the truly inspiring story of one man's rise to the very top.