Wilko redundancies could restart on Thursday, says union

Potential job cuts at Wilko could be restarted on Thursday at Wilko if a suitor for the entire retail business fails to supply the necessary details, a union has said.

The GMB union has told members that a bidder for the entire business, which fell into administration earlier this month, has a deadline of 5pm to provide paperwork needed for the offer to be considered.

It said there are no other bids which would include saving Wilko’s warehouses and support centres.

It is understood that private equity firm M2 Capital has made a £90 million offer to buy the retailer and pledged to retain all jobs for two years.

Administrators at PwC had paused redundancies as it sought final details, amid efforts to secure the future of Wilko’s 400 shops and 12,500 workers.

GMB said on Wednesday that the bid for the entire business “has yet to pass basic checks”.

In the note members, the union said: “Although further details have been requested from the bidder, we have been informed that if these are not received by 5.00PM then there are no bids on the table that include either the DC’s (distribution centres) or the support centre.

“If this is the case, then the redundancies which were paused yesterday are likely to be restarted tomorrow.

“Whilst this does mean that there are bids on the table for a significant proportion of the stores and the online business, we still cannot guarantee the future of any jobs moving forwards at this point.”

The union, which represents over 3,000 Wilko workers, is meeting with the administrators again on Thursday.

It came after Canadian businessman Doug Putman, who bought music retailer HMV in 2019, also lodged a bid intended to preserve the majority of Wilko’s stores.

It is understood that Mr Putman remains in discussion with the administrators.

Rivals Poundland, B&M, The Range and Home Bargains also reportedly lodged their interest in buying parts of the Wilko business.