Xyra Group is pulling ahead in the race to buy Poundland. Felix Armstrong explores who is behind this little-known investment firm

A former DJ, an ex-builder and the 695th Lord Mayor of the City of London walk into a boardroom. Could they walk out as the new owners of Poundland?

Xyra Group, an obscure investment firm, is emerging as the “frontrunner” to snap Poundland from the jaws of administration, as 12,000 jobs and 600 stores hang in the balance.

The group has offered to pay £12.5m up front for the retailer, putting it ahead of Martin Property Group, which has already had one bid refused by Gordon Brothers, Poundland’s Boston-based owners. 

The bidder has never completed a transaction before and has signed up a number of City veterans in a bid to bolster its credentials.

Xyra Group could become the new owners of one of the biggest presences on British high streets in a matter of days, but very little is known about the London-based investment firm and its senior leadership. 

Manvedeep Singh, the company’s 23-year-old founder, has been listed as a director of a number of health and care home companies which each folded shortly after being established. 

Before entering the City, Singh worked as a builder and served as a non-executive director of MJ Design and Building, a family-run housebuilder, between 2017 and 2025.

He remains the director of Kingdoms of Care, a care home owner, and The Cyberology, a cybersecurity firm which counts Sir Robert Buckland, a former Lord Chancellor and justice secretary, and Baroness Sandip Verma, a Tory peer, among its board members.

Xyra’s chief executive, Viktor Bronzovic, is a 27-year-old Croatian former DJ who began his business career selling wooden jewellery on Facebook and Etsy. 

During the Covid-19 lockdown, Bronzovic set up multiple companies manufacturing elastic bands and mask-making materials which he claims generated six-figure revenues.

When Xyra Group emerged as a bidder for Poundland last week, the firm was told it would need to provide more details about its finances and ability to keep the retailer afloat before its offer would be taken seriously.

But the group has since made “significant progress” towards providing proof of “credible” financial backing for its £12.5m offer, sources told . Shortly before tabling its bid for Poundland, Xyra had drafted in a number of dealmaking veterans to shore up its reputation.

City veteran ‘lends credibility’

Since mid-October, the group has added three people to its senior leadership team and appointed Michael Mainelli, a former Lord Mayor, as the sole member of its advisory committee. Mainelli, an economist and accountant, is the chair and founder of City think tank Z/Yen.

But it is Andrew Brode, Xyra’s newly-appointed vice chairman, who is the “key figure” who has lent the Poundland bidder significant credibility, one person close to the matter said. 

Brode orchestrated the stock market float of tech firm AWS and is the chair of Learning Technologies Group, which was bought for £802m by private equity firm General Atlantic last year.

One source compared Brode’s presence on Xyra’s board to the involvement of former Poundland boss Andy Bond in the offer being tabled by Martin Property Group, a rival suitor for the retailer. “He’s the person who lends them credibility,” the person said.

Steve Smith, who founded Poundland in 1990 and has been pushing for Gordon Brothers to find a buyer for the retailer, said Xyra Group “seems to have some good people behind them,” though he conceded the firm has little experience. 

Gordon Brothers is racing against time to find a new home for Poundland, as its moratorium on creditors calling in their debts is set to lapse on Thursday. “The important thing here is for someone to come up with the money,” Smith said.

Singh, Bronzovic and Xyra Group were contacted for comment. Gordon Brothers declined to comment.