Wilko in Administration: A Sad Day for Oakham
Wilko, the popular high street retailer, has entered administration, putting 12,000 jobs at risk. The news has come as a shock to many, including the residents of Oakham, where the local Wilko store remains open.
The Oakham store is a popular fixture in the town, and it is often visited by locals for its wide range of homeware, DIY, and gardening products. The store also has a good reputation for its friendly staff and competitive prices.
In recent weeks, the store has been running a big sale. The sale has only served to increase the popularity of the store, with more and more people visiting in the hope of getting a bargain. Google show the store is currently being visited more than normal.
Google Trends data shows that searches for "Wilko Oakham" have increased significantly in recent days. This suggests that the news of the store's possible closure has sparked a wave of nostalgia among locals, who are keen to visit the store.
It is sad to see Wilko go into administration, but the Oakham store is still open for business for now. If you are a local, be sure to pay it a visit.
What the future holds for the Oakham store is uncertain. It is possible that the store will close completely, but it is also possible that it will be bought out by another retailer. If the store does close, it will be a big loss for the town of Oakham. Wilko is a popular store that provides a valuable service to the community. It will be missed by many.
Flo and Dobby Love Wilko
Bic Express Yourself with Bic
Bus
Big Sale
Wilko Bird Bath
Fairy Liquid and Finish
Rabbits
Garden Tools
Halloween the thing on the right pops out scares
you as you pass.
Hooks
Lighting
Mugs
Paint Brushes
Plastic Free Wipes
These have increased in price
Seeds
Flowers
Wilko toilet rolls
Toy Dog, Wilko is also real doggy friendly
no home delivery from Wilko.com
you can click and collect from the store.
Paint
Wilko Pick and Mix Sweets
An open letter from Mark Jackson, wilko CEO.
Over the past six months wilko has been very open that we’ve been considering options to accelerate
a turnaround plan given that we needed to make significant changes to the way we operate to restore
confidence and stabilise our business. We left no stone unturned when it came to preserving this incredible business but must concede that with regret, we’ve no choice but to take the difficult decision to enter into administration.
We’ve a history steeped in serving customers and communities going back to 1930. Our founder JK Wilkinson started with a single hardware shop in Leicester and for over 90 years busy, hard-working families have come to us to get their household and garden jobs done quickly, simply and at the best value prices possible.
We thrived and successfully grew from one to 400 stores. We did this by listening to our customers – working out what they needed and then making sure we gave it to them. Whether it was recognising the demands for DIY products in the 1950s, creating our first wilko product range in the 1970s, launching online shopping in the 2000s or being the first to sell 100% plastic-free wipes across our whole range.
Wilco is a business built on strong values. We started out in the great depression and the Second World War, we’ve been there for our customers through highs and lows, recessions and coronations. Our loyal team members past and present have always been our biggest asset – our average length of service across our stores is 10 years and, in many places, generations of team members have been on hand with advice or even just a friendly smile.
We recently remained open as an essential retailer during the Covid-19 pandemic, serving
our communities when they really needed us the most.
The turnaround plan included a new Chair, bringing experience in retail turnaround situations, and a newly refreshed and streamlined senior team. Since January, and with the help of retail advisers and experts, we’ve been facing into problems and have seen real progress against many areas of our plan.
We’ve made significant savings across our cost base and have been considering various options based on advice regarding our store costs. Alongside this we’ve continued to move forward with strategically accelerating our omnichannel offer, improving the digital customer experience and opening up new marketplaces for our great value wilko products. We believe that wilko has distinct characteristics with over 50% of sales in wilko brand products (over 10,000), our value, local shopping locations and ever-expanding digital capabilities.
Significant work has been completed to streamline costs and transform the way the business operates, and our robust turnaround plan, based on annualised cost savings, would have delivered the most profitable wilko ever recorded within 24 months. While we can confirm we had a significant level of interest, including indicative offers that we believe would meet all our financial criteria to recapitalise the business, without the surety of being able to complete the deal within the necessary time frame and given the cash position, we’ve been left with no choice but to take this unfortunate action.
I’d like to take this opportunity on behalf of the directors and the Wilkinson family to thank all of our customers, suppliers, partners and our hardworking team members across our stores, logistics and support centre who remained loyal to wilko. We’ve all fought hard to keep this incredible business intact but must concede that time has run out, and now we must do what’s best to preserve as many jobs as possible, for as long as is possible, by working with our appointed administrators.
It’s been an honour to have worked alongside you all as we fought to realise and to maximise the significant opportunities that existed to re-establish a profitable wilko.
