Poundstretcher operator Brown and Jackson (B&J) today agreed to sell its loss-making retailing chains to its biggest shareholder for £1.

The discount group wants to focus on its leading Poundstretcher brand, which has stores in Brighton and Eastbourne, after tumbling into the red in the past year.

It confirmed former Matalan boss Angus Monro would be joining the business as chief executive this weekend.

He will be paid an annual salary of £300,000 with deputy chairman Carel Stassen moving into a non-executive role.

Mr Stassen said: "This restructuring is extreme-ly important for us. It gives us focus and we will have a new team running the business."

Under the shake-up, B&J plans to sell its Your More Store, What Everyone Wants and The Famous Brunswick Warehouse chains to South African group Tradegro.

B&J's majority shareholder Tradegro is paying a nominal cash fee of £1 as well as taking on debts of £47 million.

The deal, which also includes 16 Poundstretcher stores in Poland, requires the approval of the UK firm's independent shareholders.

B&J said the poor performance of the chains had adversely affected its financial performance and market value.

The time needed to turnaround the brands would be better utilised on growing Poundstretcher, which has 338 UK stores.

B&J's shares have plunged from their peak of 220p in November 1999 to a low of 28.5p in June this year on a series of profit warnings.

Results out today showed the group made pre-tax losses of £46.9 million in the year to July 6 against profits of £10.8 million the year before.