LONDON (AFP) – A rescue deal for British household goods company Wilko has collapsed, administrators said yesterday, once more placing thousands of jobs at risk.
After soaring inflation pushed Wilko to the brink, London-based M2 Capital bid almost GBP90 million to take over the company, which has 400 stores and employs about 12,500 staff.
However that deal has collapsed and administrators PwC said only parts of the business now had a chance of being saved, resulting in the first job losses which will total close to 300.
“It’s with great sadness that we announce these redundancies,” said Jane Steer, acting for the administrators called in to find a buyer. “We’re incredibly grateful to these team members for the support and dedication they’ve shown to the company, particularly over the last few very difficult weeks,” she added in a statement. PwC said all stores remained open.
In a separate statement, the GMB union said the interested party had “failed to provide the necessary evidence to show that they had the finances necessary to purchase the company”. The union represents almost one-quarter of Wilko employees.
The company, founded in 1930, is headquartered in the town of Worksop, central England.
British customers and businesses continue to face soaring costs, with UK annual inflation at 6.8 percent, the highest among G7 countries.
In a bid to cool price rises, the Bank of England has raised its key interest rate 14 times in a row since the end of 2021, to 5.25 per cent, a 15-year high.
That has helped cut the inflation rate from a 41-year peak of 11.1 per cent in October last year.
