Wilko closes its final shops after hundreds of shutdowns since entering administration

Wilko’s last branches were due to close on Sunday, marking the end of the retailer’s high street empire after 93 years.

The high street chain fell into administration in August, owing an estimated £548 million to unsecured creditors, including its own pension scheme.

The homeware store’s last 41 branches closed their doors for a final time on Sunday, the last of some 400 stores to do so. Almost all of its 12,500 workers have lost their jobs.

Store shelves have already become bare as it sells off its last remaining products in order to recover more cash to help repay Wilko’s outstanding debts.

Wilko was originally founded by James Kemsey Wilkinson in Leicester in 1930.

The family-owned business hired administrators from PwC in August after it came under pressure from weak consumer spending and debts to suppliers.

The retailer had remained robust for many years despite wider challenges on the UK high street, continuing to steadily grow as rival Woolworths entered administration in 2009.

Wilko’s turnover peaked at more than £1.6 billion in 2018 – but its profitability took a hit amid the rising pressure on high streets. Retail parks have seen footfall rise sharply in recent years, to the detriment of many high streets, where Wilko has the vast majority of its sites.

Turnover has decreased every year since. Tighter consumer budgets and the cost of living crisis saw Wilko’s shoppers drift to competitors at B&M and Home Bargains.

Phones 4U founder John Caudwell also said it was “not surprising” Wilko faced weaker consumer demand due to a challenging economic climate. He added: “Individuals and businesses are facing hard times as a result of inflation, post-pandemic situation and the Ukraine war, so there are hard times ahead and they aren’t going to get easier in the short-term.

“With that said, it’s surprising that a business like Wilko is struggling because a DIY environment usually prospers a little bit more in hard times because people tend to do things themselves.”

“The stores they have are a burden and mostly too big,” said retail analyst Richard Hyman, “They have excess space where they are selling a wide variety of products which they probably shouldn’t be selling to start with, stretching into all sorts of different markets.

“They are quite large for a lot of high streets, so have the expense of rents and rates associated, but also don’t have the practicality of retail parks, let’s say.

“There isn’t parking next to a lot of these stores, so for many people it doesn’t make sense to go there to buy large amounts of paint, or other core things like that which they sell.”

PwC agreed a deal with competitor B&M to purchase up to 51 Wilko stores, while Poundland agreed to buy up to 71 stores in a separate deal. Poundland has already reopened 20 of these shops under its own brand.

The remaining stores will see their lease agreements come to an end and it will be up to their landlords to find new tenants.

There are concerns that not all stores agreed to be bought by B&M and Poundland will become new shops after The Times reported the new owners had been accused of delaying completion amid efforts to set up new rent and lease arrangements with better terms.

There are also concerns over the pension plans of former Wilko staff, after a recently filed creditors report showed the retailer’s pension fund was left more than £50 million in deficit and is unlikely to receive more than £4 million following the insolvency process. The Pensions Regulator body may have to intervene in order to protect these workplace pensions.

The Wilko brand, including the wilko.com website and related intellectual property, were sold off to The Range, who plan to sell Wilko products in-store and restart home deliveries through wilko.com- although the home furnishing chain is not currently not expected to set up standalone Wilko shops.

The Range said it would take on 36 workers from Wilko’s digital team after buying its brand and website. Meanwhile, Poundland has offered jobs to over 200 former Wilko workers in recent weeks.