Unions confirmed that discount chain B&M has struck a deal for 51 Wilko stores for a knockdown of £13 million but fears over jobs remain.
Deal for buildings not jobs
This was the latest word from administrators PwC as they battled to find a buyer for the 400 collapsed DIY stores and their 12,000 jobs.
GMB – the union representing thousands of Wilko workers – said it understood that the B&M deal merely related to properties and held no guarantees about jobs.
“Every single redundancy is a person who will wake up facing an uncertain future. This needs to be on the forefront of everyone’s minds. The reality is years of mismanagement have led us here, “says Andy Prendergast, the national secretary of GMB.
“It will be of little comfort.”
“We are still doing everything we can to secure a deal that would protect the majority of jobs and stores. But this will be of little comfort for those not knowing how they’ll pay their bills.”
B&M – built by billionaire brothers – is one of a number of suitors vying for parts of Wilko. Others include Poundland Home Bargains and the Range.
Also in the mix is private equity group M2 Capital Partners International with what is believed to be a £90 million bid.
“I will not give up.”
Reports implied the M2 offer had faded away, but Matt Haycox Daily spoke to Robert Mantse, the head of the company who claimed otherwise.
“The Wilko 12,500 jobs will not be lost – as I will not give up.
You have my word!” he says.
Prospects for B&M?
B&M can take advantage of Wilko’s network of stores and market share. An investor note by Deutsche Bank forecast as much as a £200 million sales boost.
Billionaire brothers Simon and Bobby Arora bought B&M when it was based in Blackpool and had a struggling chain of 21 stores across the north.
A store chain now worth £5 billion.
They built it up into a FTSE 100 company with 650 stores worth more than £5 billion. It thrived through COVID lockdown as it was designated as an essential supplier meaning it was able to stay open.
The Arora brothers live next door to each other in Altrincham, near Manchester. They cut their business teeth by supplying cheap homeware goods to high street stores with a wholesale company called Orient Sourcing that they sold for more than £30 million.
Father also an entrepreneur.
The brothers grew up in Sale, Manchester. Their father, also an entrepreneur, emigrated to the UK from New Delhi in the 1960s with £10 in his pocket and set up a number of companies.
Simon studied law at Cambridge and spent time working in the City of London as a management consultant with McKinsey.
His brother Bobby went straight into the family cash-and-carry company when he left school.
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