Nearly 10,000 former Wilko staff paid £42m by Insolvency Service since collapse

Nearly 10,000 former staff of retailer Wilko have been paid more than £42 million by the Government’s Insolvency Service since the high street retailer went bust.

The government agency has covered redundancy pay and statutory notice pay owed to employees affected by the collapse of the 93-year-old chain.

Some 9,800 payments have been made so far, with each claim processed and paid within 24 hours on average, it revealed.

The discount hardware and furnishings chain had 400 stores across the UK when it fell into administration in August, having come under pressure from weaker consumer spending and debts owed to suppliers.

The dramatic collapse saw almost all of Wilko’s 12,500 workers being made redundant.

Handled by its Redundancy Payments Service (RPS), the Insolvency Service said it began preparing for the influx of claims when Wilko went into administration, despite hopes that it could still find a buyer.

But it was unable to secure a rescue deal and administrators sold off a raft of the company’s assets, including up to 71 stores to Poundland and up to 51 shops to rival discounter B&M.

However, both deals did not automatically include staff.

Rob Graham, senior operations manager for the RPS, said: “The whole RPS team has been working around the clock to make payments to former Wilko employees as quickly as possible.

“We know how difficult it is for former employees at times like these.”

Wilko paid all its former employees any wages they were owed, as well as holiday pay, overtime or commission that was due at the time it went into administration.

But it was able to claim money for redundancy and notice pay from the RPS, which distributes money held in the Government’s National Insurance Fund.

Meanwhile, the bosses of Wilko will appear before MPs next week to answer questions over its collapse and a £50 million shortfall in its pension fund.