Wilko on brink of collapse with 12,000 jobs at risk
Troubled homeware and garden retailer Wilko reportedly intends to call in administrators, placing 12,000 jobs at risk.
The high street chain has filed its notice to appoint administrators at the High Court, Bloomeberg first reported, after it spent the summer hunting for a rescue deal.
Wilko, which has 400 sites across the UK, has struggled in recent months, with the firm forced to borrow up to £45m from Hilco over the past year to keep it afloat.
Its owners are rumoured to be considering a sale of the privately-owned family business in order to salvage the chain.
PWC has been working with the business to finalise a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which would help slash rents across its stores.
Wilko, like many other high street stores, has struggled in recent years due to a rise in online shopping along with a recent slowdown in consumer spending. In January, Paperchase was wiped off the high street after being hammered hard during the pandemic. Its intellectual property was bought by Tesco and all stored were shut.
Wilko chief Mark Jackson 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.”
“We’ll continue to progress discussions with interested parties with the aim of completing a transaction which preserves the business and will encourage those interested parties we’re in discussions with to move as fast as possible.”
He added: “We continue to believe that our robust turnaround plan, with significant re-stabilisation cost savings in progress, will deliver a profitable Wilko and maximise the significant opportunities that we know exist.”