Wilko: High street chain collapsed owing £400m to creditors
Wilko collapsed with a well over £400m gap in its finances, according to documents published on Companies House, including £157.3m owed to trade creditors.
The reports, first published by The Grocer, show that the high street chain owed £411m to unsecured creditors, and a further £25.8m was owed to HMRC.
Some of the creditors included consumer goods giants P&G, which Wilko owed £8.9m and Unilever, who it owed £3.2m.
Other companies included, Mars Petcare which is owed £1m and chocolate maker Nestle which is £540k.
On Thursday, the last of the Wilko brand was carved up by The Range, who bought its brand and intellectual property.
The rival discounter intends to sell Wilko-branded goods in its some 200 stores across the UK and also keep its website, but it will not keep any of its stores or employee roles.
Poundland owner Pepco and B&M also bought a handful of its stores, with the intention of transforming them into their own budget friendly retail sites – snapping up 71 stores and 51 stores respectively.
None of the 12,500 job roles were saved in the process, though Wilko’s administrators, PwC, said they were confident both sales would create a “platform” for future employment opportunities.
Earlier this week, all hopes for the rescue for Wilko were crushed after a deal with HMV owner Doug Putman fell through due to over concerns about the costs of the retailer’s infrastructure.
Formerly known as Wilkinson Cash Stores, Wilko arrived on the high street in 1930, launched by James Kemsey Wilkinson and his fiancee Mary Cooper in Leicester.
But a cocktail of dwindling demand for physical stores and competition in the discount market appeared to tip Wilko into administration.
It also emerged that the family paid out a total of £77m to themselves and former shareholders of the retail chain in the decade leading up to its collapse. Even as losses plunged to more than £35m last year a £3m dividend was paid, according to a report in This is Money.
The company had tried its best to stay afloat — it tapped investor Hilco for £40m over the past year.