Poundland owner to buy 71 Wilko stores

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Poundland owner Pepco will buy up to 71 Wilko stores as the chain sets to close indefinitely. Administrator PwC said that Pepco agreed on the deal which will see the stores reopen under the Poundland brand.

Workers at the stores will not directly be transferred as part of the move. However, Poundland said it will 'prioritise' existing Wilko workers to work at Poundland once the shops are opened under the new brand.

Poundland said its new lease agreements are set to be completed by the "early autumn" and aims to open up the new stores by the end of 2023. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features Joint administrator Edward Williams said: "Alongside the previously announced agreement with B&M, we're confident this sale will create a platform for future employment opportunities for people including current Wilko team members at up to 122 locations. "We will continue to engage with other retailers around any interest in other Wilko sites and are confident of completing a sale of the brand and intellectual property within the coming days." Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link It comes after administrators announced that all of Wilko's remaining stores, warehouses, and support centre, workers will lost their jobs after failing to secure a rescue deal.

Family-owned Wilko employed 12,500 staff and ran 400 shops before it hired administrators early last month after it came under pressure from weak consumer spending and debts to suppliers.