Blackwood’s Wilko store set to close in less than a week after rescue deal collapses

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Blackwood’s Wilko store will close for good on Sunday September 17, just a few days after administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) announced it would not be a part of the nationwide closures.

PWC told Caerphilly Observer on Monday September 11 that staff across all of Wilko stores, including the one on Blackwood High Street, have been informed of the decision.

The news comes after a deal with with Doug Putman, the owner of entertainment retailer HMV, to save Wilko fell through.

In a statement, a spokesperson from PWC said: “Despite extensive efforts, it has become clear that no significant part of the Wilko operations can be rescued as a going concern.

“As a result, the joint administrators have today informed all staff that they will sadly commence the closure of all Wilko stores, the two distribution centres and the cessation of the majority of activities of the support centre.

“It is anticipated that all stores will be closed by early October, resulting in the redundancies of a further 9,100 employees in those stores.”

According to PwC, Putman’s plan to save Wilko fell through because of the “the inability to reduce central infrastructure costs quickly enough to make a deal commercially viable”.

As well as the Blackwood store, the Newport and Pontypool branch are also set to close on Sunday, with the remaining Welsh shops to be shut by Thursday September 21.

Wilko, which fell into administration last month, has 400 stores across the UK, the first of which opened in 1930.

Councillor Kevin Etheridge said: “This will be a major blow for Blackwood if true and I will lobby my hardest to save the High Street having been previously in touch with Lidl.

“I feel really sorry for the staff – it must be so upsetting for them.”