UK discount retailer Wilko has collapsed into administration, putting around 12,500 jobs at risk after rescue talks with prospective suitors failed (Financial Times £, The Guardian). The low-cost retailer, which is privately owned and has about 400 stores, has appointed PwC after potential buyers withdrew their interest in recent days (Telegraph £).
All Wilko stores will remain open for now despite the firm’s collapse on Thursday morning, administrators have said (Sky News). PwC has been appointed as administrator and will continue to look for a buyer for all or part of the group. The stores will stay open for now, without any immediate job losses, and staff will continue to be paid. (BBC)
The FT looks at ‘how high street stalwart Wilko came unstuck’. “Before its demise any buyer or investor was expected to inject around £75mn, but offers are now likely to be below that threshold as interested parties can cherry-pick assets. Given it has entered administration, Wilko is now free of legacy liabilities, which makes it more attractive to prospective suitors.” (Financial Times £)
Wilko’s disappearance would leave an enormous hole on the high street, writes Sky News’ Paul Kelso. While its rivals thrived amid the cost of living crisis, the discount retailer has been struggling to survive despite attempts to save the firm from collapse. (Sky News)
The Telegraph’s Ben Marlow writes: “You or I might not miss Wilko, but scores of struggling UK towns will. Britain is becoming a country of eerie ghost towns – their high streets and centres hollowed out by a decade and a half of relentless decline as our biggest chains remorselessly beat a hasty retreat from old-fashioned bricks and mortar retail.” (Telegraph £)
‘I’m broken-hearted’: customers mourn the end of Wilko. As the store enters administration, shoppers talk about its convenience, bargains, range of goods – and supply issues. (The Guardian)
Deliveroo has raised its annual earnings outlook after strong advertising income helped offset a fall in order volumes in the first half. (Daily Mail)
Deliveroo gets second wind on long ride to profit. This week’s results and upbeat guidance have brought its long-term goal tantalisingly closer. (The Times £)
Deliveroo plans to return a further £250mn to shareholders, in a sign of the food delivery group’s growing confidence in its ability to generate cash, after losses halved in the first half of the year (Financial Times £). Deliveroo shareholders could receive their first ever dividend this year as the takeaway business continues to shrink its losses (Daily Mail)
Aldi has cut the price of a swathe of household staples, further intensifying a mounting price war between Britain’s major supermarkets as inflation eases. (The Telegraph £)
A union is warning that Irn-Bru “may not get through” as drivers at the fizzy drink’s owner go on strike. The first of nine 24-hour walkouts is taking place on Friday at AG Barr’s production and distribution centre in Cumbernauld. (BBC)
After the wettest July in more than a decade, shortly followed by Storm Antoni, the great British summer has so far failed to live up to — already quite low — expectations. But for British winemakers it could be a season to remember. (The Times £)
Crime rates on London’s Oxford Street have surged as the former flagship shopping destination falls into disrepair, a Marks & Spencer executive has said. (The Times £)
Irish farmers pressured to cull cows to meet climate goals. Dairy farming produces much of Ireland’s emissions, but herd-owners say large-scale culling is not the answer. (Financial Times £)
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