LONDON (AFP) – Thousands of job losses at struggling United Kingdom (UK) household goods retailer Wilko are looking increasingly likely after the owner of the HMV music store chain said yesterday that talks for a last-ditch rescue deal had collapsed.
Canadian businessman Doug Putman had been in talks with administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to buy some 200 shops at Wilko, which went bust in August.
But he said those discussions to rescue it as a going concern had reached an end, despite having backing from Wilko management, staff and PwC.
“It is with great disappointment that we can no longer continue in the purchase process for Wilko,” he said in a statement.
“We had financing in place and received the full support of PwC, Wilko management and staff representatives. A stable foundation could not be secured to ensure long-term success for the business and its people in the way that we would have wanted.”
Wilko, which operated some 400 stores across the UK and online, announced its collapse on August 10, putting 12,500 jobs at risk.
It blamed stubbornly high inflation and interest rates affecting businesses and consumers.
Last week, B&M European Value Retail said it had agreed a GBP13-million (USD16.3-million) deal to buy 51 Wilko stores, without saying that jobs would be affected.
But PwC aid 52 Wilko stores were not part of the rescue package and would close, putting more than 1,300 staff out of work as soon as this week. Nearly 300 other jobs will go at two distribution centres.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP British media reports that administrators were in discussions with low-cost retailer Poundland and Home Bargain over a possible partial rescue deal.
But the GMB union said all Wilko stores are due to close by early next month, and “redundancy is now likely for all 12,500 workers”.
National officer Nadine Houghton said: “This isn’t a tragedy without cause. Wilko should have thrived in a bargain retail sector that is otherwise strong”.
She claimed the firm, which was founded in 1930 in central England, had been “run into the ground”, and loyal staff would suffer the consequences.
