We bought the Debenhams in Chelmsford,” Mr Dawson said. It will become one of The Range’s largest stores but will be dwarfed by the chani’s new distribution centre in Stowmarket, Suffolk, which has just opened. Alone in the shop one evening, he began to feel emotional. He said: “It’s been quite difficult but the hardest thing was seeing the shop empty. We closed the shop off on Sunday and had 2 days to clear it.” In Stevenage, Camberley and Chester, Poundland will relocate into the Wilko units from existing nearby stores. All new Poundland stores – both Wilko and non-Wilko units – will feature the very latest Pepco family clothing that has rolled out to 560 of Poundland’s existing UK and Ireland stores. Poundland said it was continuing to prioritise former Wilko colleagues for roles in its stores and encouraged them to follow Poundland’s posts on LinkedIn or visit www.poundlandcareers.co.uk to find details of open roles and how to apply for them. To date, Poundland has now made offers of employment to over 800 former Wilko colleagues. So I know I will be able to deliver the value and quality Wilko customers have come to expect. We’ve arranged all the necessary logistical capabilities to make this work and, crucially, because we won’t have a store network to support too, we should be able to remove some excess costs to secure the future of the business.

Meanwhile, Mr Dawson is adding another four The Range outlets this year. He opened a store in Walkden, Manchester, on November 24, and will open in Leamington Spa, Cwmbran and Chelmsford on December 1, and in Oswestry on December 8. Karl then took out his phone and filmed himself in the empty shop singing My Way by Frank Sinitra, with Karl changing the ‘My Way’ lyric to ‘the Wilko Way’. Explaining this change, he said: “Everything in the company’s ethos is doing things in the Wilko way, so it seemed opportune.” This is enough for up to 125 people attending your event with each participant getting 1 complete 6 to View, 6 Game Booklet. Karl agreed and set up an account with the handle @kynan1975. Within two days of posting the video, it had garnered over 1,200 likes, with the comments flooded with messages of support to Karl and the Wilko staff in Huyton.

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This quarter, Poundland has already opened new stores in Telford (Forge Retail Park), Stafford (Queens Retail Park), Gloucester (Southgate Street, Lancaster (Cornmarket), Sunderland (Pallion Retail Park), and a Pepco in Dublin (Artane). There is no delay within games as players get one booklet before they start, and each game is kept neatly together. Next Tuesday, November 28, former Wilko bosses will be in front of a Parliamentary Business and Trade select committee to answer questions about the events that led up to the failure. The GMB Union, which will give evidence at the hearing, says that the company paid millions of pounds in dividends to themselves and shareholders over the previous decade and want answers from the Wilkinson family about the firm's collapse.

Plymouth billionaire Chris Dawson could reopen nearly 300 Wilko stores around the UK. The retail magnate said he is looking at locations where Wilko previously traded before the chain went belly up.

Karl said: “I won't stop singing, even in the darkest times. We were always signing, particularly during hard times. Even when they turned our radio off, we had a speaker on in the shop. Music brings people together.”

Here of course! If you have tried to buy bingo goods online before, you will know the real difficulty in finding a reliable, competitively priced supplier of bingo accessories. The bosses of Wilko will appear before MPs next week to explain the shortfall in the company's pension fund and why its owners were taking money out of the debt-laden company. MPs on the Business and Trade Committee said they would question the company's former chief executive and chairwoman as well as representatives from its auditor EY. But it’s very sad because it’s been here a long while. I just feel sorry for everybody who works for them." Adil Kasim, 24, of Clifton, said: “This is something we have to deal with it. The future is always changing, but we’re going to move on. We’re going to deal with it. B&M has already said that it will take on up to 51 Wilko stores, but it has been reported that they will be fully rebranded as B&M Bargains stores. Poundland has confirmed another seven former Wilko stores will re-open before Christmas. This brings the total of former Wilko stores that are beginning their Poundland journeys to 63.

Strike It Rich

Workers at the stores will not be transferred directly as part of the move, but Poundland has said it will "prioritise" existing Wilko workers for roles when the shops are opened under the new brand. Poundland said its new lease agreements are set to be completed in "early autumn", aiming to open the stores by the end of 2023.

Since our appointment as administrators of wilko we have held extensive discussions with parties who expressed an interest in buying all or part of the business. While discussions continue with those interested in buying parts of the business, it’s clear that the nature of this interest is not focused on the whole Group. Sadly, it is therefore likely that there will be redundancies and store closures in the future and it has today been necessary to update employee representatives. These shops have continued to grow. Their stores are more often based in out-of-town retail parks where parking is easier than in city and town centres where a large number of Wilko stores were found. By early October 2023, all Wilko stores had closed down, despite administrators PwC attempting to sell the operation as a going concern.We know this will further add to the uncertainty felt by workers. We will be supporting staff through this deeply unsettling time, working closely with the government, JobCentre plus, unions and large employers to maximise possibilities for a rapid return to work for employees in the event of redundancies. It meant that stores started to close last week, with 90 now shut for good. The first two dozen closed last Tuesday, September 12, with another 28 on Thursday and a further 38 on Sunday. It starts trading on December 1 and The Range has just begun filling shelves with all the sorts of products Wilko fans would expect. It will concentrate on the core Wilko offers around pets, gardens, cleaning, homeware, toiletries, paints and DIY, and health and beauty, with the bonus of The Range’s Christmas products. It will also open new stores in Portishead (High Street) and Crewkerne (Market Street) this Saturday. It now plans 15 openings and relocations in December, including a move into a former John Lewis in Watford. These are: Saturday 2 December 2023: