Wilko on the brink of administration
Struggling homeware retailer Wilko has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, putting 400 stores at risk.
Wilko said it has had “a significant level of interest” from investors, including “indicative offers” that it believed would meet its criteria to recapitalise the business.
However, Wilko chief executive Mark Jackson said: “At present, we don’t today have an offer that provides the necessary liquidity in the time we have available, given the mounting cash pressures we are faced with.
Struggling homeware retailer Wilko has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, putting 400 stores at risk.
Wilko said it has had “a significant level of interest” from investors, including “indicative offers” that it believed would meet its criteria to recapitalise the business.
However, Wilko chief executive Mark Jackson said: “At present, we don’t today have an offer that provides the necessary liquidity in the time we have available, given the mounting cash pressures we are faced with.
“Unfortunately, with this in mind, today we are having to take the difficult decision to file an NOI.”
Jackson added that the retailer will “continue to progress discussions with interested parties with the aim of completing a transaction which preserves the business” and “encourage” them “to move as fast as possible”.
Jackson said the retailer, which generates £1.2bn annual turnover, has a “robust turnaround plan” in place and “significant re-stabilisation cost savings in progress”.
However, he said, given its cash position, the business has been “left with no choice” but to file a NOI to appoint administrators “without the surety of a recapitalisation being able to be completed within the necessary time frame”.
To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews
Photo © Maureen McLean/Shutterstock
