Fifty-two Wilko stores are to close next week, resulting in 1,016 redundancies, the administrators for the stricken discount chain have announced.
Following an announcement earlier today that rival retailer B&M had agreed to buy 51 stores, joint administrators at PwC said negotiations with other potential buyers continued but it was clear some of Wilko’s stores were not part of the talks.
The 52 stores will close as a result, some on Tuesday 12 September and some on Thursday 14 September. The 1,016 job losses at the stores are on top of 299 redundancies at Wilko’s two distribution centres in Worksop and Newport, effective from Thursday 7 September.
The locations of the stores to close are to be announced tomorrow (6 September) once affected staff have been informed.
“In the absence of viable offers for the whole business, very sadly store closures and redundancies of team members from those stores are now necessary, in addition to the already announced redundancies at the support centre and distribution centres,” said joint administrator Edward Williams.
Read more: How did high street favourite Wilko come to collapse?
“We know this has been a deeply unsettling time for everyone concerned and would like to express our gratitude to all Wilko team members for the dedication and support they have continued to give the business in the most trying of circumstances.”
Wilko entered administration on 10 August, putting 400 stores and 12,500 jobs at risk, after failed attempts to find a buyer for the 93-year-old discounter. The retailer was in the midst of a turnaround plan aimed at cutting costs and growing online sales.
In the months leading to its collapse, it sold its Worksop distribution centre for £48m and secured a £40m two-year revolving credit facility from lender and Homebase owner Hilco UK. It had also hoped to launch a company voluntary arrangement, a restructuring process involving reduced rents for stores.
Lisa Wilkinson, granddaughter of Wilko founder James Kemsey Wilkinson and major shareholder of the retail chain, stepped aside as chair in January.
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