Wilko's goes into Administration

[skyhigh]

GMB union has said that staff at the branches sold to B&M will be made redundant.

 

[Kite159]

I imagine (other than locations where it would introduce duplicates nearby) B&M have picked the best of the sites which means that the remaining rump are less attractive for any prospective purchaser. It also looks to me as if it indicates that the deal with the HMV owner isn't progressing.

Or in places where B&M thinks the Wilko site is in a better location or is a better store, so they will shift to the former Wilko store, closing the existing B&M.

 

[Annetts key]

USDAW are the main shop workers union.

I don’t know if GMB have any members in the shops, or if they just represent members in the offices and warehouses.

 

[Silver Cobra]

USDAW are the main shop workers union.

I don’t know if GMB have any members in the shops, or if they just represent members in the offices and warehouses.

GMB are the main union representing workers at Asda, both in stores and the distribution centres. So it wouldn’t surprise me if they are the main union for store workers at Wilko.

 

[johntea]

First round of closures announced

Wilko: Full list of shops set to close next week revealed

Staff being made redundant were told of the news this morning, with shops closing next week.

www.bbc.co.uk

The following stores will close on 12 September:

• Acton
• Aldershot
• Barking
• Bishop Auckland
• Bletchley
• Brownhills
• Camberley
• Cardiff Bay Retail Park
• Falmouth
• Harpurhey
• Irvine
• Liverpool Edge Lane
• Llandudno
• Lowestoft
• Morley
• Nelson
• Port Talbot
• Putney
• Stafford
• Tunbridge Wells
• Wakefield
• Weston-super-Mare
• Westwood Cross
• Winsford

The following stores will close on 14 September:

• Ashford
• Avonmeads
• Banbury
• Barrow in Furness
• Basildon, Belle Vale
• Burnley
• Clydebank
• Cortonwood
• Dagenham
• Dewsbury
• Eccles
• Folkestone
• Great Yarmouth
• Hammersmith
• Huddersfield
• Morriston
• New Malden
• North Shields
• Queen Street Cardiff
• Rhyl
• Southampton-West Quay
• St Austell
• Stockport
• Truro
• Uttoxeter
• Walsall
• Woking

 

[Annetts key]

A very sad day for all the Wilco employees.

 

[JD2168]

GMB are the main union representing workers at Asda, both in stores and the distribution centres. So it wouldn’t surprise me if they are the main union for store workers at Wilko.

GMB is the Union at Wilko.

 

[Busaholic]

Only one out of four in Cornwall survives then, for the present. The one closing in Truro is the most prominent shop in the city centre.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Has a list of stores bought by B&M yet been made public?

 

[Islineclear3_1]

GMB union has said that staff at the branches sold to B&M will be made redundant.

Such a shame that they won't be TUPE'd across as these branches will need staff....

First round of closures announced

Wilko: Full list of shops set to close next week revealed

Staff being made redundant were told of the news this morning, with shops closing next week.

www.bbc.co.uk

I'm speculating then that the stores not on that list will be taken over by B & M (?)

 

[SteveM70]

Such a shame that they won't be TUPE'd across as these branches will need staff....

TUPE doesn’t apply in this sort of situation. If B&M need staff (depends if the Wilko becomes a new store or a relocated one) they will encourage applicants from Wilko but jobs will be on B&M terms

 

[Islineclear3_1]

TUPE doesn’t apply in this sort of situation. If B&M need staff (depends if the Wilko becomes a new store or a relocated one) they will encourage applicants from Wilko but jobs will be on B&M terms

That's why I said "such a shame" as B&M terms might not be as good....

 

[Mojo]

Such a shame that they won't be TUPE'd across as these branches will need staff....

From the GMB website:

You will have seen a lot of press speculation about Wilko. In relation to stories today about a bidder taking over 51 sites, accepting that all details, including even the number of stores involved, are covered by confidentiality agreements, we can say that any such bid would appear to be for store premises only. This would mean that whilst new brands may open on site, workers would not transfer to these. Instead, they would be made redundant by the administrators prior to any store closure.

This would mean two things; firstly that Tupe is not really relevant in this situation, as it would appear that B&M are only buying the physical premises for the shops; but also the union are speculating that the staff won't continue to have jobs going forward. Given the difficulty in finding staff that employers of low-paid service jobs often report to have, it is possible that whilst they are being made redundant, they will probably not have difficulty finding jobs with the new occupant of any outlets.

FWIW, I have always found staff in Wilkinsons to be very talkative, polite and sociable, even at their shops in big cities, which is something very rare these days. They must have had very favourable terms for staff compared to other retailers in the sector, meaning they attract(ed) better quality staff than other retailers, and/or must have had a very good training and recruitment team, as many major retailers seem to struggle to recruit people capable of speaking coherently.

 

[skyhigh]

I'm speculating then that the stores not on that list will be taken over by B & M (?)

No.

Pretty sure I read that Wilko have 400 stores. 51 are being taken by B&M, 52 are listed to close. So of the 350ish stores not listed, only 51 will transfer.

 

[Dent]

No.

Pretty sure I read that Wilko have 400 stores. 51 are being taken by B&M, 52 are listed to close. So of the 350ish stores not listed, only 51 will transfer.

Wouldn't the ones being taken over by B&M be the ones closing?

If B&M are just taking over the premises to open B&M stores in rather than taking over Wiko stores as a going concern then the Wilko stores in those premises would have to be closed first before the premises can be used for anything else.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Wouldn't the ones being taken over by B&M be the ones closing?

If B&M are just taking over the premises to open B&M stores in rather than taking over Wiko stores as a going concern then the Wilko stores in those premises would have to be closed first before the premises can be used for anything else.

No, they specifically stated that the 51 stores being taken over were separate from the ones being closed.

 

[SteveM70]

That's why I said "such a shame" as B&M terms might not be as good....

I’d be amazed if the basic terms for new starters were significantly different, but there are probably longer serving members of Wilko staff on better terms

 

[skyhigh]

Wouldn't the ones being taken over by B&M be the ones closing?

No, the Administrators have made clear the stores that are closing are separate from the deal with B&M.

Reading between the lines - if successful Doug Putman was intending to acquire around 300 of the 400 stores. B&M have taken 50ish, I suspect the 50ish stores that have been announced as closing are the remainder that nobody has shown interest in.

 

[C J Snarzell]

The Wilko's on Standishgate in Wigan is across the street from B&M bargains. Both of them occupy prime sights - Wilko's is in the former Debenhams site, while B&M has the former BHS site. For a town already on it's a**e, the closure of one of these shops is just several more nails in the town's declining retail fortunes. I hate to see anyone losing their jobs in the current climate. I just hope the ladies who work in Wilko's Wigan find alternative employment very quickly elsewhere.

CJ

 

[52290]

I managed to get some suet treats for the birds in my garden from Wilko's at Middlebrook, Horwich with a generous 10% discount yesterday. They prefer Wilko's to any other brand. I don't know how I'm going to break it to them that Wilko's is soon going to disappear.

 

[P Binnersley]

Wilko used contract manufacturers. If you can find the suet treats in the same size and shape of packaging it probably came from the same factory.

 

[Strathclyder]

First round of closures announced

Wilko: Full list of shops set to close next week revealed

Staff being made redundant were told of the news this morning, with shops closing next week.

www.bbc.co.uk

Two Scottish branches closing soon then. Am not familar with the Irvine store, but the Clydebank store was a Woolworths once upon a time. As I noted in a previous post, there is a B&M literally right across from it and a Home Bargins a minute's walk away heading towards the shopping centre's car park. It's a fairly sizable unit, so I expect someone to snap it up after Wilko's shuts it's doors for the last time.

Really do feel for the staff caught up in this whole sorry mess.

 

[johnnychips]

there is a B&M literally right across from it and a Home Bargins a minute's walk away heading towards the shopping centre's car park. It's a fairly sizable unit, so I expect someone to snap it up after Wilko's shuts it's doors for the last time.

But who would snap it up, given Wilko’s greatest rivals are next door?

Unfortunately, High St shopping is in a sad decline.

 

[adc82140]

I've never known such a will they/won't they saga drawn out in the media regarding the administration of a store chain. It's really not fair on the staff.

 

[Richardr]

It is just a month [to the day] that Wilko went into administration, so if it is reaching completion it seems fairly quick - Arcadia for example took three months to sell all the brands.

The "media" is largely due to one of the "bidders" conducting a media campaign claiming it would save all of the stores and jobs, but not having the funds to fulfil such a pledge. As a rule of thumb, if a bidder for anything decides rather than actually bid it is going to run a media campaign, then it isn't serious.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I had not long since woken up so my vision was a bit blurry. I took a picture of the bare shelves of Cardiff Wilko as it looked a bit odd, and when I looked back at the photo I thought for a minute Theresa May had stopped by to pay her respects!

 

[brad465]

Yep, they've had it:

All Wilko shops to shut with 12,500 jobs likely to go

The Wilko name will disappear from UK High Streets as a rescue deal for the chain falls through.

www.bbc.co.uk

A rescue deal for High Street chain Wilko has collapsed, leaving the future of thousands of jobs uncertain.
The billionaire owner of HMV, Doug Putman, hoped to keep up to 300 Wilko shops open, but his bid failed as rising costs complicated the deal.
It leaves the future of more than 10,000 workers and hundreds of stores uncertain.
Some of Wilko's remaining stores could be sold to rival retailers, such as Poundland or The Range.
Administrators are expected to announce the details of job losses and store closures in the coming days.
The cash-strapped chain announced in August it had collapsed into administration, raising concerns over the futures of its 12,500 workers.
Administrators at PwC have already announced that some 1,016 redundancies would be made at 52 shops across the country that will close on Tuesday and Thursday this week.
Another 299 redundancies have taken place at its two distribution centres in Worksop and Newport, while more than 260 redundancies have been made at its support centre.
Proposals put forward by Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putman were hampered by the costs and difficulties thrown up by the need to overhaul Wilko's supply chains.
He had originally been eyeing up to 300 shops, but the deal in its most recent form may have included about 100.
Day-to-day costs to keep everything running, rents and supplier contracts were also posing a challenge.

In a statement to The Sun newspaper, he 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.
"A stable foundation could not be secured to ensure long-term success for the business and its people in the way that we would have wanted," he added.
After the collapse of Woolworths in 2008, Wilko - family-run until its problems came to a head - stepped up to fill the gap left on the High Street.
Founded in 1930 and well known for its affordable everyday items, it had been struggling with sharp losses and a cash shortage.
Nadine Houghton, national officer at the GMB union, said that workers had been dealt "another devastating blow" on Monday.
"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."
The company has also faced strong competition from rival chains like B&M, Poundland, The Range and Home Bargains, as the high cost of living has pushed shoppers to seek out bargains.
B&M has said it will take on up to 51 of Wilko's 400 shops in a deal worth £13m, although it hasn't confirmed yet whether any jobs will be saved as a result.
Many Wilko shops are in High Street locations in traditional town centres. While these locations are convenient for shoppers without cars, since the pandemic there has been a shift to bigger retail parks and out-of-town options with more space, benefiting its rivals like B&M.
Poundland is also understood to be interested in buying dozens of stores as a way of boosting its own portfolio.
The Wilko brand is also still up for grabs, with retailers including The Range proposing bids for the name.
Wilko had already borrowed millions from restructuring specialist Hilco, cut jobs and rejigged its leadership team and sold off a distribution centre as it struggled with rising costs and keeping shops fully stocked.
Lisa Wilkinson, the retailer's chairwoman until January this year and the granddaughter of the firm's founder, recently said "everybody has thrown everything" at trying to save the business.

 

[Mojo]

Yep, they've had it:

All Wilko shops to shut with 12,500 jobs likely to go

The Wilko name will disappear from UK High Streets as a rescue deal for the chain falls through.

www.bbc.co.uk

A real shame. I remember saying a few years ago when they first experienced troubles that I don't know what I'd do without Wilkinsons. Went into my shed the other day and pretty much everything in there for my house and garden I have bought from them. Whilst many of the things are sold branded from another company (e.g. most of their gardening stuff is made by Doff), much of it is simply not sold, or if it is, it is often significantly more expensive, in other shops.

 

[ChrisC]

A real shame. I remember saying a few years ago when they first experienced troubles that I don't know what I'd do without Wilkinsons. Went into my shed the other day and pretty much everything in there for my house and garden I have bought from them. Whilst many of the things are sold branded from another company (e.g. most of their gardening stuff is made by Doff), much of it is simply not sold, or if it is, it is often significantly more expensive, in other shops.

Wilkinsons headquarters and one of their distribution centres is in Worksop in Nottinghamshire. Although they now have shops nationwide their largest concentration of shops are still in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire areas especially in many of the ex mining towns. Many of these towns already have dying town centres with many closed shops. Many of these town centre Wilko stores are quite large relatively modern buildings and will leave a huge gap in these high streets. In some locations I can see the possibility of B&M relocating into these buildings as many of their current town centre shops are in older and smaller buildings such as in ex Woolworths and Kwik Save buildings.

Doff, which hopefully will not be affected too much by the closure of Wilkos, is another firm with headquarters in a Nottinghamshire ex mining location. Doff are based in Hucknall and their buildings are located on the site of an old coal mine.

 

[Mojo]

Doff, which hopefully will not be affected too much by the closure of Wilkos, is another firm with headquarters in a Nottinghamshire ex mining location. Doff are based in Hucknall and their buildings are located on the site of an old coal mine.

Doff sell a lot of stuff in Poundland and B&M, although both of these retailers sell them as Doff branded items, and the range is a lot smaller. I wonder if it cost Wilkinson anything to have the items in their own branding rather than that of Doff.