Leamington and Kenilworth Wilko stores safe for now as retailer confirms plans to shut 14 shops imminently

Leamington and Kenilworth Wilko stores are currently safe for now after the retailer confirmed plans to shut 14 shops imminently.

Wilko said some stores will close just days after it announced it was on the edge of entering administration.

The Leamington branch, which is in the Royal Priors Shopping Centre, and the Kenilworth branch, which is in Station Road, are not named on the list of closures as it stands.

According to The Mirror, the retailer made the announcement after deciding to file its "notice of intention" to the high court.

As a result, 12,500 Wilko jobs have been put at risk. But the chain hopes some stores could be saved after it was revealed there are "significant levels of interest”.

In a statement Wilko chief executive Mark Jackson said he will continue to push the interested parties to "move as fast as possible."

He said: "We’ll continue to progress discussions with interested parties with the aim of completing a transaction which preserves the business and will encourage those interested parties we’re in discussions with to move as fast as possible."

However, reports from The Times show that buyers looking to invest in the retailer will have to pump a staggering £70 million into the company to save it from collapse.

So far, a rival discount chain and two private equity firms have been named as potential buyers for a deal which would involve slashing rents at Wilko’s 400 shops through a company voluntary arrangement.

In a statement Wilko chief executive Mark Jackson said he will continue to push the interested parties to "move as fast as possible."

He said: "We’ll continue to progress discussions with interested parties with the aim of completing a transaction which preserves the business and will encourage those interested parties we’re in discussions with to move as fast as possible."

However, reports from The Times show that buyers looking to invest in the retailer will have to pump a staggering £70 million into the company to save it from collapse. So far, a rival discount chain and two private equity firms have been named as potential buyers for a deal which would involve slashing rents at Wilko’s 400 shops through a company voluntary arrangement.

Earlier this year Wilko announced it would be closing children’s toy departments to focus on home and garden collections. However, it was also thought that Wilko faced financial difficulties during the pandemic and called in advisers from Teneo, a management consulting company to explore cost-cutting and restructuring options in October last year.

List of Wilko stores to close

So far, 14 Wilko stores have been confirmed for imminent closure:

- The Fort Birmingham

- Bournemouth

- Shipley

- Stockton

- Scunthorpe

- Narborough Road in Leicester

- Rotherham

- Skegness

- Grantham

- Merthyr Tydfil

- Cleethorpes

- Woolwich

- Redditch

- Llanelli