Administrators for the failed Wilko business have confirmed that all of its stores will now close with the probable loss of all 12,500 staff.
Despite a deal to sell 51 stores to B&M, PwC has been unable to strike a deal for the rest of the business. It is not even clear if the B&M stores will protect existing jobs in those branches.
It means the Wilko brand – which has its roots in Leicester in 1930 – will most probably disappear from the º£½ÇÊÓƵ high street. In all there were more than 400 shops.
A deal to sell 300 shops to the Canadian owner of HMV fell through earlier on Monday, prompting PwC to announce that the remaining stores would all go along with two distribution centres in Worksop, Notts, and Newport, Wales, and most of the activities of its Worksop support centre.
Joint administrator Zelf Hussain said: “Despite the significant and intensive efforts of both ourselves and Putman Investments – the remaining party interested in buying a significant part of the business as a going concern – a transaction could not be progressed due to the inability to reduce central infrastructure costs quickly enough to make a deal commercially viable.
“The dedication shown by all team members during this period has been hugely humbling and we are grateful for the patience and understanding they have shown.
“As with those who have already been given notice of redundancy, we will guide and support those team members impacted over the coming weeks through the redundancy claims process.
“We also continue to collaborate closely with relevant agencies and engage with any potential employers to help facilitate a quick return into new employment for those impacted.
“We continue to work with potential buyers for different parts of the business and are confident of completing transactions in the coming days.â€
PwC said some 124 of the Wilko stores would close on or before the September 21.
It is anticipated that the rest of the stores will close by early October, resulting in the redundancies of a further 9,100 shop staff – following last week’s announcement that around 1,500 jobs were already going.
Closure dates for the remaining 222 stores will be announced in due course.
The closure of distribution centres is expected to take place this Friday (September 15), with the majority of their remaining 886 employees made redundant on that date.
The rest of the remaining 210 support centre employees will go during September and early October as operations wind down.
PwC said: “The administrators’ dedicated employee team will continue to help provide support, including assisting in the statutory redundancy claims process and ensuring the dedicated employee helpline remains in place to address any employee queries.
“Company support systems with access to further advice and resources will remain active.â€
