Budget homeware chain Wilko was yesterday teetering on the brink of collapse, putting around 12,000 jobs at risk.
The retailer, which has around 400 stores, said that it was primed to appoint administrators after struggling to find a financial lifeline.
In recent years the High Street has been struggling with painful cost increases, while shoppers’ budgets have been restricted by historically high inflation levels.
Wilko, which sells affordable products ranging from homeware and garden products to cosmetics, said it had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators at the High Court today with the advisory firm PwC.
The privately-owned chain has been hunting a buyer but came up short against a deadline for emergency cash at the end of this month.
On the brink: Wilko, which has around 400 stores, said that it was primed to appoint administrators after struggling to find a financial lifeline
There were fears last night that the collapse of Wilko would signal the largest retailer to go to the wall since the newsagents chain McColl’s last year.
Mark Jackson, the chief executive of Wilko, 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.’
He said Wilko would still talk to other brands interested in buying it and hoped to turn things around ‘as fast as possible’.
In recent years, the High Street has also haemorrhaged household names such as Debenhams, Topshop owner Arcadia group and Mothercare owing to the shift to online shopping and side-effects of Covid lockdowns.
Andy Prendergast, the national secretary for the GMB union, of which some Wilko staff are members, said: ‘This is extremely concerning but we remain hopeful a buyer can be found.
‘Wilko’s staff deserve reassurance that their jobs are safe. We hope this is the number one priority.’
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