Some 12,500 Wilko staff have been given reassurances that their jobs are safe for the time-being as administrators continue trying to find a potential buyer for the business.
The GMB union has said the administrators for the discount chain would not pursuing job cuts while it considers bids for the business.
The union, which represents more than 3,000 of Wilko’s staff, said it met with administrators this morning (Tuesday) to discuss “multiple bids” which have been made for the retailer, which has its head office in Workshop, Notts.
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Andy Prendergast, GMB national secretary, said: “All redundancies at Wilko have been suspended while the administrator considers further bids.
“Whilst this is a positive development, Wilko is not out of the woods by any means and this is a time of incredible stress and worry for the 12,500 workers who face losing their jobs.”
The business, which has 400 stores, called in administrators from PwC in early August after failing to find fresh backing to help it out of its ongoing financial difficulties.
Its shops have remained trading throughout, though it was reported last week that stores and jobs could start going within a matter of weeks
In a statement last week the Wilko joint administrators said: “In the immediate term, all stores remain open, continue to trade and staff continue to be paid.
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“Contrary to speculation, there are currently no plans to close any stores next week.”
Wilko has built up multi-million pound losses on the back of rising borrowing costs, a cost-of-living crisis, post-Covid disruption to global supply chains and growing competition from the likes of B&M, Poundland, The Range and Home Bargains. Amazon is also said to have taken sales from it.