The owner of UK high street retailer HMV is making one last push to come up with the funding needed for an eleventh-hour rescue bid for Wilko.
According to Sky News, HMV owner Doug Putman has approached a number of debt providers – including firms like Gordon Brothers and Hilco – for help to finance an offer which would save hundreds of Wilko stores and thousands of jobs across the UK.
This last-ditch attempt comes following news earlier this week that Wilko stores across the UK could begin closing “within weeks” leading to a significant number of redundancies.
The GMB union – which represents more than 3000 Wilko workers – said it was told in a meeting that “there is no longer any prospect that the majority of the business will be saved”.
As a result, stores are set to close and there are expected to be redundancies affecting staff in-store and within the company’s call centres.
Joint administrators of Wilkinson Hardware Stores Ltd (Wilko) Jane Steer, Zelf Hussain and Edward Williams from PwC released a statement following the comments from GMB which confirmed there would be “redundancies and store closures” at some point in the future.
In a statement, the administrators said: “Since our appointment as administrators of Wilko, we have held extensive discussions with parties who expressed an interest in buying all or part of the business.
“While discussions continue with those interested in buying parts of the business, it’s clear that the nature of this interest is not focused on the whole group.
“Sadly, it is therefore likely that there will be redundancies and store closures in the future.”
According to Sky News despite Mr Putman’s attempt to put together a last-minute bid, a source has told them the likelihood of the HMV owner rescuing Wilko was “unlikely”.
But Mr Putman remains in discussions with administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
A retail executive, speaking to the news outlet, said “a decision was likely at the start of next week” as to whether or not his offer is viable.
Wilko has 408 stores (at the time of publication) across the UK with more than 12,500 employees.
