Displaying items by tag: administration

Wilko’s 400 stores are expected to close within weeks with 12,500 redundancies unless a buyout is secured. Pray for the 12,500 families living with fear of being out of work. Wilko’s assets were valued at £41m and the stock is likely to be worth tens of millions of pounds. The stores could be bought by rival bargain retailers like Poundland, Home Bargains, Primark, and B&M, who would rebrand them, possibly without retaining existing staff. The GMB union, which represents thousands of Wilko staff, said it would be ‘a disgrace’ if bids that could save jobs were disregarded. 12,500 jobs cannot be sacrificed for a few pence in the pound for creditors. Viable bids that protect jobs must be prioritised. M2 Capital’s bid to keep the entire Wilko chain trading fell through on 31 August. Job losses are feared.

The dispute between the EU and AstraZeneca continues. The EU ‘wants clarity on the vaccine delivery schedule’, and requested a clear plan for fast delivery of their reserved vaccines. AstraZeneca explained the complexities of scaling up production of the vaccine. It is striving to bring this vaccine to millions of Europeans at no profit during the pandemic, but there were production issues at factories on the continent and problems with Europe’s supply chain. It is providing as many doses as possible. The EU said this is a breach of contract, and that the company should send vials from other production facilities - like those in the UK - to match previously made commitments. The UK said vaccine supplies would not be interrupted: see