Cambridge and Ely stores not included in list of 51 Wilko sites to close

The Wilko stores in Cambridge and Ely have been spared as 52 UK stores in the homeware chain have been closed, with another 51 sold to the rival B&M group.

The closures mean redundancies for 1,016 staff based at these sites, and a further 299 redundancies at the two distribution centres in Worksop and Newport.

The final day of trading for the 52 stores will be on Tuesday September 12 - with the affected shops including those in Cardiff, Acton and Barking - and Thursday, September 14, for stores including in Basildon, Dagenham, Great Yarmouth, Folkestone, and New Malden.

Edward Williams, joint administrator, said: “In the absence of viable offers for the whole business, very sadly store closures and redundancies of team members from those stores are now necessary. The loss of these stores will be felt not only by the team members who served them with such dedication, including through the uncertainty of recent weeks, but also the communities which they have been a part of.

“We are enormously grateful for the support of team members during this difficult period and remain committed to doing all we can to help affected staff, assisting them with processing redundancy claims and working with relevant parties to help secure new employment as quickly as possible.”

Active discussions with parties interested in buying parts of the business continue and the administrators remain committed to preserving as many jobs as possible. However, depending on the outcome of those talks, the administrators – who were appointed on August 10 – say that “it is possible that further store closures may regrettably be necessary”.

Wilko had employed 12.500 staff in 400 UK sites, including on Fitzroy Street, Cambridge, and Market Street, Ely. It is not currently know whether these stores are included among the 51 sites acquired by B&M in a £13m deal – nor is it know whether the stores acquired by B&M will continue to trade as Wilko or be rebranded.