Closure dates announced for four Wilko stores in the Midlands

The Wilko store in Wolverhampton's Mander Centre as well as the branches at Shrewsbury and Bloxwich will finally shut on September 21, while the Great Bridge store will close two days earlier, on September 19.

It comes as administrators confirmed on Monday that another 9,100 people who work for the failed retailer will be made redundant after talks to save hundreds of shops fell apart.

Administrators at PwC said that the rest of Wilko's shops would close by early October, with staff there losing their jobs.

The company's two warehouses will also close and most of the activities at its support centre will cease, PwC said.

It said that "extensive efforts" had failed to produce a deal which would save any "significant part" of the Wilko operations.

Staff at 124 stores were on Monday informed that those sites will close on or before Thursday September 21.

The dates when the remaining 222 shops will close will be announced later, PwC said.

Most of the 886 remaining warehouse staff will be made redundant on Friday, while there will be further redundancies among the remaining 210 support centre employees until the early part of next month.

A statement from the joint administrators said: "Since their appointment on August 10, the joint administrators have explored all potential opportunities to save the business. They have worked closely with Wilko, its employees and suppliers, to fully understand the structure, implications and viability of a number of offers received for all or parts of the Group.

"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 today informed all staff that they will sadly commence the closure of all 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.

"Timings for the closure of the remaining 222 stores will be announced in due course."

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.”