A DISCOUNT retailer is on the brink of collapse amid a string of sudden UK store closures.

MaxiDeals, a bargain chain that rivalled Poundstretcher, announced they have gone into liquidation.

Paul Mathers, the chain’s managing director from launch, told The Grocer MaxiDeals had ceased trading “very suddenly”.

He blamed a “really tough trading environment on the high street, accompanied with rising costs”.

“MaxiDeals was a new startup discount retail business backed by investors, where I was given the responsibility of opening its retail locations across various parts of the UK," he wrote in a statement online.

“We opened these stores during very challenging times with the Covid outbreak just starting, however we did manage to get to 24 stores.”

Companies House documents show MaxiDeals went into voluntary liquidation on February 18.