Final day for Wakefield Wilkos as collapse of the high street chain takes shape

Its Wakefield store will close today as the dramatic collapse of the high street chain takes shape.

The Pontefract store, on Salter Row, will close on Saturday, September 17.

The city store is one of 24 across the UK that will shut for good in the first phase of closures, with hundreds of workers at the shops set for redundancy.

There are 19 redundancies in Wakefield. It’s unclear how many redundancies will be at the Pontefract branch.

Administrators at PwC are "actively working with potential buyers" and "exploring all interest in the reminder of the business".

However, 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 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.

Staff at 124 stores have today been informed that those outlets will close on, or before, Thursday, September 21.

Zelf Hussain, joint administrator, said: “Despite the significant and intensive efforts of both ourselves and Putman Investments - the remaining party interested in buying a significant part of the business as a going concern - a transaction could not be progressed due to the inability to reduce central infrastructure costs quickly enough to make a deal commercially viable.

“The dedication shown by all team members during this period has been hugely humbling and we are grateful for the patience and understanding they have shown. As with those who have already been given notice of redundancy, we will guide and support those team members impacted over the coming weeks through the redundancy claims process.

"We also continue to collaborate closely with relevant agencies and engage with any potential employers to help facilitate a quick return into new employment for those impacted.

“We continue to work with potential buyers for different parts of the business and are confident of completing transactions in the coming days.”