Major property sales critical to size of return to Wilko’s creditors

Wilko’s administrators have said the size of return to unsecured creditors will be dependent on the sale of the failed retailer’s head office and distribution centre.

Around 12,000 jobs were lost and 400 sites closed when the Nottinghamshire-headquartered retailer collapsed last year.

Joint administrators Jane Steer, Edward Williams and Zelf Hussain from PwC have been working to secure the value that was left in the business.

£143m was raised in sales before the final stores closed on October 8, while The Range bought IP and other assets, and property deals were done with B&M and Pepco.

Secured and preferential creditors, including Barclays and HMRC, are all expected to be repaid in full.

The administrators have also increased the range of expected repayments to unsecured creditors from 4p-8p in the pound to 4p-13p.

It has estimated the Wilko business still has net property worth £20m-£60m.

In documents seen by TheBusinessDesk.com, the administrators said there has been “some interest” in Wilko’s head office site in Workshop and its distribution centre in Chepstow is under offer.

When Wilko’s went into administration, it had leasehold interests in 398 stores, a distribution centre, and a London office. It also had five freehold properties and a long leasehold.

The administrators have agreed deals for “a number of freehold sales”, and they assigned 121 leases to B&M and Pepco.