housands more jobs at Wilko could be lost and hundreds more shops could close as HMV owner Doug Putnam’s attempt to rescue hundreds of the collapsed retailers’ shops from administration fell apart.
Putnam, who led the turnaround of HMV, had reportedly been in talks about saving around 200 of Wilko’s 400 shops, having initially hoped to buy as many as 300. However, he has now said that he would not participate in the bidding.
Payment of suppliers, who were owed money when Wilko entered administration, had reportedly been a major challenge in getting Putnam’s deal over the line.
Putnam said: “It is with great disappointment that we can no longer continue in the purchase process for Wilko having worked with administrators and suppliers over several weeks to seek a viable way to rescue it as a going concern.”
It is hoped that other discount retailers like Poundland may still save some shops, but no bidder had aimed to buy as many as Putnam.
That means that many more shops are now likely to close, and thousands more jobs could be lost.
The failure of the Putnam bid may also mean that the Wilko name could disappear from the high street, as rival discounters are more likely to rebrand shops in their own name.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘’Wilko faces disappearing from the high street after a rescue bid to save the name and a vast chunk of stores appears to have collapsed. This is the news thousands of staff had been fearing, and with hopes of a white knight rescue receding into the distance, they are staring at the prospect of redundancy.
“There is a chance that the brand itself may survive but as a range on another retailer’s shelves, and further deals are rumoured to potentially be announced this week. But it looks like the famous red and white shopfronts will be dismantled and Wilko will join Woolworths in the high street history books.”
Administrators at PwC took over Wilko last month and have been aiming to secure as much value as possible for its creditors by selling off any parts of the business that they can.
Last week, Wilko laid off around 1,300 staff as it closed 52 shops that weren’t a part of any rescue deal. A further 52 had been bought by B&M for £13 million, and are likely to be rebranded as B&M shops.
Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, said: “Due to the incompetency of Wilko bosses the deal has now run out of time.
“If the owners had been transparent and honest, thousands of loyal Wilko workers may not now be in this awful position.
“This is another devastating blow for them, who have seen their lives and futures gambled on the whims of millionaires and billionaires.
“Wilko bosses should be ashamed that this once great family business now appears to be beyond saving.
“If they’d have listened, things could have been so very different.”