Top 10 stories of 2022: Number 10 – Wilko goes looking for funding

In the run-up to the Christmas break, we’ll be looking back over 2022 to rediscover our top 10 most popular stories of the year.

2022 has been another tumultuous year for the East Midlands, with three Prime Ministers, three Budget statements and seemingly endless strife in Westminster as the Government struggles with the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, its own inner turmoil and what seems like the false prophecy of Brexit.

We can only hope 2023 is somewhat calmer, but with economic storm clouds overhead, it seems the next 12 months will be less than serene.

It’ll be fascinating, then, to see what caught your attention over the last 12 months, when, in the East Midlands, we’ve again had well over 1 million readers.

We only have to go back a few weeks to find our 10th best-read story of the year.

On November 11, we revealed that Notts-based value retail giant Wilko was in talks over a £30m emergency loan to help it through the Christmas trading period.

It remains to be seen whether Wilko has secured the funding it needs to get it through the next few weeks. However, with 16,000 jobs relying on its future success, here’s hoping.

Since the news that it was searching for funding, we’ve also had the news that the firm’s MD has stepped down and that it has slipped to a loss of almost £37m for the year to January 29.

Here’s hoping for a better 2023 for one of the East Midlands’ best-known business names.