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The owner of HMV is finalising a deal to rescue the majority of Wilko’s operations, salvaging more than 8,000 jobs at the stricken high street retailer.
Sky News has learnt that Wilko’s administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), began consulting the chain’s major creditors on Thursday on the terms of an agreement with Doug Putman.
One source with financial exposure to Wilko said Mr Putman intended to acquire more than 300 of its 400 stores, meaning that between 8,000 and 9,000 jobs of a total workforce of 12,500 could be saved.
Depending upon further deals with other retailers to buy some of Wilko’s stores, however, that could mean several thousand high street workers face losing their jobs.
A deal with Mr Putman could be announced in the next few days, although people close to the situation cautioned that some uncertainty remained until it was agreed.
The final store and job perimeters involved in the deal are also yet to be formalised, according to one creditor.
“It’s still in the balance but it is beginning to look more positive that a deal can get done,” the creditor said.
On Thursday, PwC confirmed the first redundancies since its appointment when it announced that 283 jobs would be lost, mainly at its support centre operations.
“We will continue to do all that we can to support staff through this period of difficult upheaval, and to maximise their opportunities for a rapid return to work,” Jane Steer, joint administrator, said.
“Our priority is to ensure that all team members affected by redundancy are assisted in processing their claims with immediate effect.”
Details of Mr Putman’s deal…
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