All 400 of UK retailer Wilko’s stores to shut, 12,500 jobs at stake

Failed retailer Wilko will soon disappear from British high streets next month, as its entire chain of 400 homeware stores shut down, with the expected loss of all 12,500 jobs, a British trade union said on Monday.

The GMB union said, citing Wilko’s administrators, that the stores were set to close by early October, while two distribution centres will close on Friday next week.

“This means that redundancy is now likely for all 12,500 workers,” GMB added.

The news follows hopes in recent weeks of a deal being reached to buy the retailer, which collapsed last month after suffering a cash squeeze following a downturn in trading.

The retailer, which sells everything from hardware goods to cleaning products and toys, trades from about 400 stores across the UK and has an annual turnover of 1.2 billion pounds ($1.53 billion).

It is Britain’s biggest retail casualty since the crisis at convenience store chain McColl’s in May last year. McColl’s was subsequently bought by supermarket group Morrisons.

A recent bid by Canadian businessman Doug Putman, the owner of HMV music stores, to buy a majority of Wilko failed due to complications over costs, British media reported.

Wilko, which started as a hardware store in 1930 in Leicester, central England, succumbed to Britain’s tougher economic environment and cost-of-living crisis, grappling with high inflation and a series of interest rate rises.

“This isn’t a tragedy without cause,” GMB National Officer Nadine Houghton said. “Wilko should have thrived in a bargain retail sector that is otherwise strong, but it was run into the ground by the business owners.”

Wilko’s administrators, PwC, have not commented on the closure yet.