Employees at TWO Scottish stores will see job losses…

Employees at TWO Scottish stores will see job losses as early as next week

ADMINISTRATORS for Wilko have revealed the locations of 52 stores which will close as early as next week resulting in more than 1000 job losses.

The news comes after PwC, which was appointed to oversee the insolvency last month, failed to secure a rescue deal for the whole business.

PwC however said it remains in talks with parties interested in buying the remaining parts of the business.

It comes a day after rival retailer B&M bought up to 51 other Wilko stores in a deal worth up to £13 million.

Of the 52, two Scottish stores are set to close - Irvine and Clydebank - out of the 10 in Scotland.

The National: B&M have bought 51 Wilko stores. B&M have bought 51 Wilko stores. (Image: PA)

Administrators added on Wednesday that “it is possible that further store closures may regrettably be necessary”, depending on talks with remaining suitors.

It is understood that HMV owner Doug Putman is still in discussions with PwC over a possible deal to save a significant number of stores.

The raft of closures next week will lead to 1016 redundancies, while the company has also announced hundreds of further job losses affecting warehouse and service centre staff.

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.”