A WILKO rescue deal could take weeks to come to light – leaving the future of hundreds of stores and thousands of jobs up in the air.
It comes after administrators at PwC told The Sun that several offers to rescue the chain were made on Wednesday night.
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It could take weeks before Wilko’s administrators announce a potential rescue dealCredit: Alamy
At the moment, PwC is yet to confirm how many bids have been submitted to rescue Wilko.
And sources said that the bids would take a while to process.
They told The Sun that an announcement could come on Monday, but have since pushed back on this citing the lengthy review process.
Sources at PwC have now said that while it’s possible that an announcement could be made at the end of next week it might actually come in two weeks time.
Wilko collapsed into administration last week after failing to find new backing for the business.
It puts the chain’s 400 stores at risk of closing and around 12,500 jobs on the line.
But the GMB union said yesterday that there are “genuine grounds for hope” over the future of stricken retailer Wilko after expressions of interest from potential buyers during the administration process.
“GMB has met with administrators and the company as part of the formal consultation process,” said Andy Prendergast, GMB national secretary.
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“We can confirm there have been expressions of interest from organisations who are considering taking over at least some parts of the business.
“These are still at an early stage, but means there are genuine grounds for hope.
“Whilst this process continues staff will continue to be paid and kept on. All stores are continuing to trade, and deliveries of new stock will continue.”
The Sun previously reported that several potential buyers have shown an interest in Wilko’s business, one in particular could save as many as 300 branches from closing down and would preserve the most jobs.
But it is understood that early expressions of interest were mixed, and the majority of offers are for between 40 to 50 stores.
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