High Street retailer Wilko is on brink of collapse with thousands of jobs and 400 shops at risk as firm signals it is at risk of insolvency proceedings
Thousands of jobs at one of Britain’s biggest discount retailers are now at risk amid claims Wilko is on the brink of collapse.
Some 400 stores could be in the firing line after the high street chain signaled it was at risk of insolvency proceedings.
The privately-owned firm, which sells everything from stationery to hardware items, has filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators at the High Court, after spending weeks hunting for a rescue deal.
Wilko, which employs about 12,000 people, started from a single hardware store in 1930. It secured a £40million lifeline from Hilco UK, the owner of Homebase, at the beginning of this year.
The value retail giant’s notice of intention to appoint administrators now gives it a 10-day window to secure a deal while protected from action by other creditors.
Wilko is on the brink of collapse after the firm revealed it is filing a notice of intention to appoint administrators
Mark Jackson, Wilko’s chief executive, said: ‘While we can confirm we’ve had a significant level of interest, including indicative offers that we believe would meet all our financial criteria to recapitalise the business, at present, we don’t today have an offer that provides the necessary liquidity in the time we have available, given the mounting cash pressures we’re faced with.
‘Unfortunately, with this in mind, today we’re having to take the difficult decision to file an NOI.’
The retailer is being advised by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), while property agents CBRE had been brought on board to negotiate with landlords.
Last week the GMB Union cancelled a planned meeting with its Wilko members because ‘the company have shared that they hope to be able to provide us with a more detailed update next week’.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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