Wilko: Job losses confirmed at high street chain as rescue bid falls through - redundancies to start next week

Hundreds of job losses at Wilko have been confirmed after a bid to buy the entire business fell through. Administrators PwC confirmed 269 roles in the chain’s support centre would be made redundant, along with 14 roles at a Wilko subsidiary.

They said further redundancies across the two distribution centres would be announced from early next week

Jane Steer, joint administrator, said: "It’s with great sadness that we announce these redundancies. We’re incredibly grateful to these team members for the support and dedication they’ve shown to the company, particularly over the last few very difficult weeks."

The roles will formally be made redundant from the close of business on Monday, PwC said. Private equity firm M2 Capital had hoped to purchase the discount homeware chain and its 400 stores, but the deal fell through on Thursday (August 31).

The retail chain, which employs around 12,500 staff in total across the country, collapsed earlier this month.