text: Poundland has posted annual sales exceeding the £1billion mark for the first time in yet another sign of the discount stores' sustained challenge to established supermarket retailers. The company, which began as a single shop in Burton-on-Trent 25 years ago, has  become Europe's largest single-price discount retailer. The firm revealed yesterday total revenue over the 12-month period - excluding its Spain interests - grew 11.8 per cent to just over £1.1 billion, breaking through the £1bn barrier for the first time and matching more established retailers such as WH Smith. Poundland has become Europe's largest single-price discount retailer, with a trial expansion into Spain currently underway . Profits are expected to be around £44million as the firm reaps the rewards from its 547 UK stores and 41 shops in Ireland. With recession-era shopping habits entrenched, discount retailers are taking sales from Britain's 'big four' supermarkets - transforming the British High Street. 'Discounters have always been part of the retail scene, catering for people who didn't have a lot of money,' retail analyst Clive Black told The Guardian. 'What happened was that in 2011 the UK became a country that didn't have a lot of money and bargain hunting became a national pastime and not just the preserve of people on low incomes.' Steve Smith (pictured) founded Poundland in 1990 then sold it for £50 million a decade later . Poundland said it had opened 60 net new stores in the UK and Ireland and had a strong pipeline of openings for the new year. On the back of yesterday's figures, Poundland's chief executive Jim McCarthy said: 'After a solid quarter of sales growth, Poundland's revenue for the 2015 financial year was over £1billion for the first time. 'Despite tough trading conditions, Poundland continues to perform well and we served an average of 5.3 million shoppers a week during the quarter. 'We managed our costs and cash well, and we expect underlying pre-tax profits to be in line with market expectations for the year as a whole.' Originally founded by entrepreneur Steve Smith in 1990, the company snowballed from a small private enterprise into a High Street revolution, which involved buying up unwanted stock and end-of-lines, then swiftly getting them into the shops to sell cheaply. This strategy has since been adopted by bargain chains such as Aldi and Lidl, all of which have eaten into a market once dominated by the supermarket chains such as Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury's. Back then, shoppers were beginning to desert the High Street for superstores, but Mr Smith and his Poundland chain - which he sold in 2000 for £50million - were a lifeline that helped keep it afloat. Steve Smith grew up helping his father run a stall at Bilston market in the West Midlands, before opening his first Poundland store in 1990 at the age of 18. He has previously said his inspiration was his hardworking father, who ditched his job to become a trader when he realised it brought in more money. And it was at his father's market stall he discovered the basics of business. Most significantly, he realised the box contain cut-price items that had lost their packaging was particularly popular. The box formed the inspiration for Poundland, and a few years later, he convinced a shopping centre in Burton-on-Trent to open a store, where he sold £13,000 of stock on the first day. By the time he sold his share of the company for £50million in 2000, the business had a million customers a week and employed 6,000 people.
target: The discount chain yesterday posted annual sales exceeding £1 billion .
  It has now become Europe's largest single-price discount retailer .
  Poundland benefited from austerity seen in the wake of the financial crisis .
  It also transformed High Streets, luring customers away from superstores .