Wilko enters administration
There have been reports that UK homewares retailer Wilko has now entered administration. PriceWaterhouseCooper has been appointed as administrator.
Despite staff being told that stores will remain open, we fear that this could eventually lead to redundancies. Sadly, in most cases, administrators will make a number of immediate redundancies, without prior warning or any consultation process.
A failure to follow a consultation process could lead to employees being able to claim protective award compensation from an Employment Tribunal of up to 90 days’ pay. Such a claim could be pursued if:
• 20 or more people were made redundant at the same workplace; and
• There was no information and consultation process, or it wasn’t carried out correctly prior to making redundancies.
If you are worried about your position, contact our employment team confidentially now for more information.
• Call us on 033 3344 9603
• Email us at [email protected]
Find out more by reading our FAQs.
There are strict Tribunal deadlines within which to pursue these claims, so you mustn’t delay if you believe you may be affected.
Our employment solicitor Damian Kelly commented on the news:
“In light of the high street homeware retailer Wilko announcing it has collapsed into administration, many analysts of the retail sector are wondering which other large high street retailers could face a similar fate.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, high street retailers have been adversely affected by rising rents for premises, particularly in town and city centres. Supply costs have increased, and there has been reduced demand from customers — many of which now work from home and choose to shop online with home delivery.
Many retailers are actively reviewing the need for expensive premises in city and town centres, meaning the collapse of Wilko could only be the start of a series of high street losses in the retail sector.
The impact on staff who could lose their jobs cannot be underestimated. Wilko has a workforce of approximately 12,000 staff who now face a very uncertain prospect.
At Morrish Solicitors, we’ve been able to successfully represent staff from a number of big-name brands which have suffered the same fate; securing protective award compensation for employees of Thomas Cook, M&Co, Phones4U and Austin Reed.”
