A few weeks after Britain’s well loved retail chain Wilko was placed into administration, a new update about its rescue deal has surfaced. The discount retailer B&M, and incidentally one of its biggest competitors has agreed to purchase 51 Wilko stores for a potential sum of £13 million. B&M is valued at £5 billion with 1,100 locations in the UK and France.  PwC, Wilko’s administrators are still rushing to secure last-minute deals that can help the creditors and the store’s employees. Thousands of jobs are currently hanging in the balance. 

This rescue deal with B&M could potentially result in significant job losses among Wilko staff. The deal involves the purchase of store premises only. New B&M stores may open at these locations. But there is no guarantee that Wilko employees will transition to these new businesses under employment laws like the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (Tupe) .

Job cuts have commenced at Wilko’s headquarters and warehouses and more than 1016 employees have had to bid farewell.  An additional 299 positions will be eliminated at large warehouses in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, and Newport, Wales. About 17 redundancies will follow at the support center for digital operations.

Administrators from PwC are also in discussions with other potential buyers, including Poundland, Home Bargains, and The Range. A proposal by Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putman to rescue the majority of Wilko stores is also in the works. This bid could save about 300 of the business’s 400 stores and over 12,000 staff members. However, this is likely difficult. Major suppliers like Unilever and Procter & Gamble are asking for the repayment of debts to continue supplying Wilko’s stores.

As PwC is obligated to safeguard the interests of creditors, including the £40 million owed to Hilco, they have revealed the locations of 52 stores set to close next week. More employees may be made redundant if efforts to rescue the struggling retailer do not succeed. Stay tuned here for more updates. 

The 24 Wilko stores due to close on 12 September:

Acton, Aldershot, Barking, Bishop Auckland, Bletchley FF, 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 28 Wilko stores due to close on the 14 September:

Ashford, Avonmeads, Banbury, Barrow in Furness, Basildon, Belle Vale, Burnley (Relocation), 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.