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Wilko at life line.

 

Struggling discount chain Wilko is in talks to secure an emergency loan as crippling cost pressures bear down on high street retailers in the run-up to Christmas. Wilko employs 16,000 people and trades from 402 shops, and is in talks with alternative lenders over a £30 million cash injection. Wilko entered the words after being unable to agree to an extension of its revolving credit facility amid a sharp rise in interest rates. However, Wilko chief executive Jerome Saint-Marc said the retailer’s relationship with its lenders was solid.

The deal brought in £48 million that Wilko has used to pay off its revolving credit facility. Retailers grapple with weak consumer demand and soaring costs on everything from energy to wages. Discounters such as Wilko should be better placed to weather the storm, however. Retailers are set to benefit from a reduction in business rates, a tax on the commercial property after the valuation office agency said rateable values on shops would fall by an average of 10 per cent.

In last week’s budget, chancellor Jeremy Hunt also scrapped ‘downwards transitional relief’, meaning retailers will reap the benefits quicker. Among the biggest winners are department stores and retailers in central London.

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  1. Eric20 November 2022 at 17:03

    I don't understand why Wilko is doing so poorly. They should be ok considering they are a discounter store which people are using more and more nowadays. I wonder what is really going on here...

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