ADMINISTRATORS overseeing Wilko’s insolvency have confirmed the closure of all remaining stores by early October.
This will include the shops at Clifton Moor in York and Abbey Walk Shopping Centre in Selby.
A further 9,100 people who work for the retailer will be made redundant in addition to job losses announced in the last week.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) clarified the situation after yesterday’s announcement from the GMB union saying redundancy was ‘likely’ for remaining workers.
The administrator said ‘extensive efforts’ had failed to produce a deal which would save any ‘significant part’ of the business.
Zelf Hussain, joint administrator at PwC, 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.
“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 continue to work with potential buyers for different parts of the business and are confident of completing transactions in the coming days.”
Family-owned Wilko employed 12,500 staff and ran 400 shops before insolvency action began early last month.
Today, it was announced that administrators for the stricken brand have agreed to sell 71 stores to Poundland owner Pepco.
These sites will be turned into Poundland shops and former Wilko staff will be given priority for the new jobs created when they open.
Fifty-one store sites were acquired by discount retailer B&M in a near £13 million deal but this did not include the Wilko name.
Administrators called time on 52 stores last week with 24 closures taking place from today (September 12).
Another 28 shops close on Thursday (September 14).
Staff at 124 stores were informed on Monday (September 11) that those sites will close on or before Thursday September 21.
Shops in Beverley and Driffield are included in this list.
The administrator said the dates for closure of remaining shops will be announced later this month.
These stores - including the York and Selby branches - are set to shut by early October.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel