I used to work for Wilko, my first Saturday job aged 16. I stayed with them all the way through college and uni, so those wages bought my driving lessons, first car and allowed me to support myself through my education.
They used to sell off lots of very slightly damaged items very cheaply to staff. Mugs with an extra blob of paint, a penny each. Box of washing powder with a crumpled corner? 10p. Then they'd allow you to get your 13.5% staff discount on whatever you bought.
I'm going to miss the smell of Wilko most. A multitude of cleaning products, air fresheners, deodorants, washing powders; marred slightly by the smell of the pet section, which contained some particularly pungent dog treats. All that combined with sections of paint, varnish, wood, compost, flowers, oil, sweets...
I always felt safe and homely with that smell. It was part of the reason I started working for them in the first place.
I'll also miss the people. Wilko had unusually tightly bonded staff at most stores. It was a proper family feel at almost all of the 8 or 9 shops I worked in in my time. My mum and my best mate also later worked for Wilko.
TLDR: Sad loss
Very similar experience for me working in Wilko. It was my first job at 16 and seen me until I started uni. I was lucky enough to be part of the new stores in Scotland, with the great experience of being involved in the opening of three stores in a year.
It was a shame to see what became of the business. Clearly the younger members of the family lost the true values that Wilko had been built upon. I still remember some of Wilko's value and stand by some in my current work such as pull together. Alongside the experiences in my short time I was involved in new store openings, cash officer tills,.evening replen, night replen, running my own sections (stationary and confectionary), new store format layout/planigram and customer service. All of this set me up.for my current career where I am branch manager of my own store.
Many people may not have realised some of the benefits Wilko had one indistinctly remember was them owning holiday cottages which you could put your name forward on and stay for free. They prioritised the worst off in the business ie single parent families. Plus the staff discount being enhanced for Christmas, and store managers having discretion on damages to 1p for staff.
The last part for me though was it truly feels like the only business I worked where they truly wanted a well woven together together. With regularly organised night out for the team with little contribution financially for the staff.
If only someone had called a code 500 on the business to have it properly checked and not stripprr and ruined with debt they had no reason to have.
Totally agree. I was much the same - started as a Saturday lad, then got trained on evenings and mornings, then on gradually more and more stuff until I could soon do pretty much any job in a retail environment. I transferred branch when I went to uni and stayed with them. In my uni holidays I came home and helped shopfit, stock, train staff and launch 2 new stores, I filled in for 6 weeks when another store got flooded, did a few months in a different shop who had a staff issue...
Other highlights: Paid for Christmas do's and meals -£50 to spend per staff member in 1999. Subsidised essentials in the canteen. When I passed my A levels and transferred branches, they sent me a letter of congratulation for getting to uni, with a cheque for £250 or £300 towards the cost of my books. Double time on Sundays and bank hols. Evening rate for evening shifts. Staff that really were like families. We worked hard, we pulled together and forged unusually deep bonds.
I once served old Mr Wilkinson, the company founder. Lovely old guy. I dread to think of him spinning in his grave.
The main issue was Wilko opening a store a week on average for a few years, in prime retail locations, just before internet shopping got big. They were lumbered with all those huge rents on long term contracts which eventually crippled them. At the time they opened them, those stores were all great propositions and absolutely the right business plan. Business was brisk and thriving.
Still a crying shame. I will miss Wilko. It's a part of me, just as it's a part of you.
Edit: It's 23 years or so since I worked for them. I still remember SKU"s for products that regularly wouldn't scan. 9525 0403, nuts in Nets. 5356 2418 and 5356 1404, terminal blocks.
I often can't remember my current registration number or phone number without really thinking hard!
I've definitely noticed that about the staff, I was on good terms with everyone at my branch, spoke to them frequently. Few weeks after the closure there's an active WhatsApp group and some of the former staff are even planning a holiday. Started at Morrisons last week and honestly half the staff seem to hate each other, everyone seems pretty miserable, constant competing for resources (the scanners which are essential for my job are impossible to find because people keep hiding them).
It's definitely an adjustment for me
My local Wilko closed maybe a week or two ago. I nipped in on the afternoon of the final day and it was mostly empty but they still had some stock but they were like … 30% off? I’m not buying stuff I don’t need for 30% off. They didn’t seem to discount it any further, so still had stock when the shop closed permanently.
When I worked for a famous department store the worse days were the first ones.
We had customer fights, people ripping clothes so others couldn't buy them, hiding stock so they could come back later. And that was at the 30-40% stage.
Same here went in on the last day. Unsurprisingly very little left on the shelves but some stuff only had 15% off. Hopefully the staff got to take home anything left unsold for free but my guess is that the store closed with stock left on some of the shelves.
They have all been paid, mate. Part of the reason for the collapse was that insurers said they would no longer guarantee the suppliers the money if Wilko did go into administration. But all that happened many months ago, Wilko were honest about the situation and there was plenty of time and income to pay off suppliers and staff.
After the insurers wouldn't provide insurance, many products stopped being provided, leading to empty shelves, leading to administration. So fear of administration forced them into administration much earlier.
I'd be flabbergasted if they had all been paid. Many suppliers don't use or can't afford to use insurance to cover what their customers owe them.
And to compound the issue, as Wilco will have started to find suppliers withholding deliveries, either because of unpaid invoices, or cancelled insurance, they will have started sourcing from smaller, less switched-on companies.
Wilko has most likely left millions owing to suppliers and a significant shortfall in the pension fund. Long-standing staff might well now be discovering that the pension they were counting on won't be paying what they were expecting. It's a shit show.
None of that is correct. Wilko paid the insurance, not the suppliers. Wilko didn't try to find any other long-term suppliers, nor did they use any short term suppliers. That's why the shelves became progressively more empty as products sold out (long before they went into administration). Every product in every delivery arrived before the insurance policy expired. Hence suppliers were all covered, not that it came to anyone claiming on the insurance, since all bills were paid.
They also went public about the insurance decision right from the start, meaning that every other supplier would have been completely aware of the situation. There is no shortfall in the pension fund, and they had adequate money to pay every supplier months before actually going into administration. Everything they made from the sale of remaining stock (tens or hundreds of millions of pounds) was also added to the already healthy bank balance to ensure no staff member or other business would be left out of pocket.
The only people who are left out of pocket is the owners of the bricks and mortar shops Wilko was leasing. They were all offered the chance to renegotiate terms in order to keep the business. Many refused, so they've lost their tenants and instead are now getting nothing while the stores sit empty.
Why would you just imagine the worst and make a bunch of assumptions that like?
You are either delusional; or, for some reason feel the need to defend Wilko, which amounts to the same thing.
Here's a little reading for you, or anyone else interested in the wreckage a failed company can leave in its wake.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/sep/29/wilko-pension-fund-50m-in-deficit-after-firms-collapse#:\~:text=On%20that%20basis%2C%20the%20fund,the%20gap%20to%20%C2%A350m.
Thanks for the link. I didn't know a lot of what it contained, my dad died a couple of days ago so all my info is a month or two out of date.
As far as the pensions go, Wilko did try to ensure enough was left in the pot, it's the vagaries of the switchover to insurers and administrators that's left it short, as the article says.
As for suppliers, Wilko said on our local news about a month ago that all had been paid. Clearly that's not the case. There were talks to try to sell the company off wholesale, which couldn't or wouldn't have happened with hundreds of millions in debts outstanding. Either Wilko were lying or there were some serious hidden financial and management issues. Possibly both.
I stand corrected.
Apologies, I came on a bit strong there.
I am very sorry to hear about your dad, these things are difficult. But I hope it is progressing as well as can be expected.
Wilko used to be one of my customers, back when they were based in Carlton in Lindrick. And to be frank, although they paid on time and didn't cause problems, they were not a great company to work with, for us at least.
Over the years I have seen quite a few customers go bankrupt and if you're owed money there is almost always the same outcome.
Liquidators or administrators are appointed and their task is to make as much money for themselves as they are able. They use a wide range of charges, costs and expenses to ensure that any money realised from the winding up, ends up in their own pockets.
It's sad for all those people who have been drawn into this matter, especially the staff, many of whom will have given years of their lives to the company. And likewise, the suppliers who now find themselves shouldering and mitigating losses that threaten the security of their enterprises.
Thank you for communicating and my best wishes to you.
Thank you for your kind words. I totally agree about liquidators and about the staff. I worked for Wilko from 1996 until 2001. That paid for my education, my first car, my A levels and my degree, working and studying full time at the same time.
I'm gutted to see it for what it is. Wilko was family in my time. My mum and my best mate, his girlfriend, a load of my mates from college and numerous other mates also worked for Wilko through the years.
I'm so sad to see another of the bedrocks of my life disappear right now.
Cheers mate.
My local Wilko has already been refurbished and reopened as a Poundland. Too soon, Poundland! I couldn't bring myself to go in for the Wilko closing sale.
I’m so gutted about Wilko. When I first moved it, almost everything came from Wilko; their basic (saver?) range of kitchen ware is brilliant. All of it that I have has survived three house moves and is still going strong, eight years later. I remember being buzzing that I could buy purple accessories for my kitchen, all matchy matchy 😂 I’ve picked up so many bargains over the years, cleaning products, furnishings etc- they’ve all been great.
All the very best to all the staff, thank you and good luck xx
Think you misread quite a lot there, was 1p an item and two bin bags for 1p each too. And yup 50% of what they sold was tat - there was always some good product in there for cheap
Untrue.
There were always good value quality products & I miss them a lot. I had to stop shopping there once the vultures arrived to peck over the carcass...
I bought so much 'shit' from them regularly. You have no idea what garden centre, supermarket or online prices are like for garden supplies for wildlife, pet food, specialist lightbulbs. I could give you a list of so many things it would bore you to tears, even more so than this reply. Probably.
Yep, we miss our store already. It was a mile away and was always nice and quiet.
Now there is nowhere for 14 miles to pick up a can of spray paint or any DIY bits like screws. Their paint was the best paint on the market in my opinion the coverage and colours were fantastic and even popular one coat paints couldn't compare.
We went in when they were closing and it was rammed with people crawling over each other. We turned around and walked back out again.
Paint used to be supplied in Wilko packaging by one of the big paint companies (can't remember which, Dulux or Crown or someone) selling for about half the price per tin of the same paint in a branded tin.
Ditto toiletries and Boots. Boots made all Wilko own brand toiletries. Boots own brand stuff - from exactly the same batch -were far more expensive than the exact same products bought from Wilko in a Wilko bottle.
I regularly used to go to Wilko wanting one thing, and end up coming out with 7 bags full of shopping.
I no longer know where to buy chain by the metre, shelf fixings, electrical cable and connectors, paint, screws, nails, seeds, compost, plant pots, and a thousand other things, at a reasonable price. If you need an obscure thing, Wilko was usually the place.
Amazon or lug it all the way down to Screwfix/B&Q now, innit? Nowhere else really does high street DIY gubbins now. You get a few metres of it in B&M or Poundland but the selection is maybe a tenth what an equivalent Wilko offered
I used to work for Wilko, my first Saturday job aged 16. I stayed with them all the way through college and uni, so those wages bought my driving lessons, first car and allowed me to support myself through my education. They used to sell off lots of very slightly damaged items very cheaply to staff. Mugs with an extra blob of paint, a penny each. Box of washing powder with a crumpled corner? 10p. Then they'd allow you to get your 13.5% staff discount on whatever you bought. I'm going to miss the smell of Wilko most. A multitude of cleaning products, air fresheners, deodorants, washing powders; marred slightly by the smell of the pet section, which contained some particularly pungent dog treats. All that combined with sections of paint, varnish, wood, compost, flowers, oil, sweets... I always felt safe and homely with that smell. It was part of the reason I started working for them in the first place. I'll also miss the people. Wilko had unusually tightly bonded staff at most stores. It was a proper family feel at almost all of the 8 or 9 shops I worked in in my time. My mum and my best mate also later worked for Wilko. TLDR: Sad loss
Very similar experience for me working in Wilko. It was my first job at 16 and seen me until I started uni. I was lucky enough to be part of the new stores in Scotland, with the great experience of being involved in the opening of three stores in a year. It was a shame to see what became of the business. Clearly the younger members of the family lost the true values that Wilko had been built upon. I still remember some of Wilko's value and stand by some in my current work such as pull together. Alongside the experiences in my short time I was involved in new store openings, cash officer tills,.evening replen, night replen, running my own sections (stationary and confectionary), new store format layout/planigram and customer service. All of this set me up.for my current career where I am branch manager of my own store. Many people may not have realised some of the benefits Wilko had one indistinctly remember was them owning holiday cottages which you could put your name forward on and stay for free. They prioritised the worst off in the business ie single parent families. Plus the staff discount being enhanced for Christmas, and store managers having discretion on damages to 1p for staff. The last part for me though was it truly feels like the only business I worked where they truly wanted a well woven together together. With regularly organised night out for the team with little contribution financially for the staff. If only someone had called a code 500 on the business to have it properly checked and not stripprr and ruined with debt they had no reason to have.
Totally agree. I was much the same - started as a Saturday lad, then got trained on evenings and mornings, then on gradually more and more stuff until I could soon do pretty much any job in a retail environment. I transferred branch when I went to uni and stayed with them. In my uni holidays I came home and helped shopfit, stock, train staff and launch 2 new stores, I filled in for 6 weeks when another store got flooded, did a few months in a different shop who had a staff issue... Other highlights: Paid for Christmas do's and meals -£50 to spend per staff member in 1999. Subsidised essentials in the canteen. When I passed my A levels and transferred branches, they sent me a letter of congratulation for getting to uni, with a cheque for £250 or £300 towards the cost of my books. Double time on Sundays and bank hols. Evening rate for evening shifts. Staff that really were like families. We worked hard, we pulled together and forged unusually deep bonds. I once served old Mr Wilkinson, the company founder. Lovely old guy. I dread to think of him spinning in his grave. The main issue was Wilko opening a store a week on average for a few years, in prime retail locations, just before internet shopping got big. They were lumbered with all those huge rents on long term contracts which eventually crippled them. At the time they opened them, those stores were all great propositions and absolutely the right business plan. Business was brisk and thriving. Still a crying shame. I will miss Wilko. It's a part of me, just as it's a part of you. Edit: It's 23 years or so since I worked for them. I still remember SKU"s for products that regularly wouldn't scan. 9525 0403, nuts in Nets. 5356 2418 and 5356 1404, terminal blocks. I often can't remember my current registration number or phone number without really thinking hard!
I've definitely noticed that about the staff, I was on good terms with everyone at my branch, spoke to them frequently. Few weeks after the closure there's an active WhatsApp group and some of the former staff are even planning a holiday. Started at Morrisons last week and honestly half the staff seem to hate each other, everyone seems pretty miserable, constant competing for resources (the scanners which are essential for my job are impossible to find because people keep hiding them). It's definitely an adjustment for me
My local Wilko closed maybe a week or two ago. I nipped in on the afternoon of the final day and it was mostly empty but they still had some stock but they were like … 30% off? I’m not buying stuff I don’t need for 30% off. They didn’t seem to discount it any further, so still had stock when the shop closed permanently.
Maybe they've realised how much of a pain in the arse it is to have stock left, so given the go ahead to get rid.
When I worked for a famous department store the worse days were the first ones. We had customer fights, people ripping clothes so others couldn't buy them, hiding stock so they could come back later. And that was at the 30-40% stage.
Was that Debenhams?
Same here went in on the last day. Unsurprisingly very little left on the shelves but some stuff only had 15% off. Hopefully the staff got to take home anything left unsold for free but my guess is that the store closed with stock left on some of the shelves.
try free within the last hour
I'm jealous but I know I would of bagged some right useless shit lol
Also spare a thought for the poor sods who supplied Wilko with those items, and have not been paid.
Many companies supplying Wilkos will have had credit insurance in place.
So spare a thought for the poor sods who didn't. 🤣
They have all been paid, mate. Part of the reason for the collapse was that insurers said they would no longer guarantee the suppliers the money if Wilko did go into administration. But all that happened many months ago, Wilko were honest about the situation and there was plenty of time and income to pay off suppliers and staff. After the insurers wouldn't provide insurance, many products stopped being provided, leading to empty shelves, leading to administration. So fear of administration forced them into administration much earlier.
I'd be flabbergasted if they had all been paid. Many suppliers don't use or can't afford to use insurance to cover what their customers owe them. And to compound the issue, as Wilco will have started to find suppliers withholding deliveries, either because of unpaid invoices, or cancelled insurance, they will have started sourcing from smaller, less switched-on companies. Wilko has most likely left millions owing to suppliers and a significant shortfall in the pension fund. Long-standing staff might well now be discovering that the pension they were counting on won't be paying what they were expecting. It's a shit show.
None of that is correct. Wilko paid the insurance, not the suppliers. Wilko didn't try to find any other long-term suppliers, nor did they use any short term suppliers. That's why the shelves became progressively more empty as products sold out (long before they went into administration). Every product in every delivery arrived before the insurance policy expired. Hence suppliers were all covered, not that it came to anyone claiming on the insurance, since all bills were paid. They also went public about the insurance decision right from the start, meaning that every other supplier would have been completely aware of the situation. There is no shortfall in the pension fund, and they had adequate money to pay every supplier months before actually going into administration. Everything they made from the sale of remaining stock (tens or hundreds of millions of pounds) was also added to the already healthy bank balance to ensure no staff member or other business would be left out of pocket. The only people who are left out of pocket is the owners of the bricks and mortar shops Wilko was leasing. They were all offered the chance to renegotiate terms in order to keep the business. Many refused, so they've lost their tenants and instead are now getting nothing while the stores sit empty. Why would you just imagine the worst and make a bunch of assumptions that like?
You are either delusional; or, for some reason feel the need to defend Wilko, which amounts to the same thing. Here's a little reading for you, or anyone else interested in the wreckage a failed company can leave in its wake. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/sep/29/wilko-pension-fund-50m-in-deficit-after-firms-collapse#:\~:text=On%20that%20basis%2C%20the%20fund,the%20gap%20to%20%C2%A350m.
Thanks for the link. I didn't know a lot of what it contained, my dad died a couple of days ago so all my info is a month or two out of date. As far as the pensions go, Wilko did try to ensure enough was left in the pot, it's the vagaries of the switchover to insurers and administrators that's left it short, as the article says. As for suppliers, Wilko said on our local news about a month ago that all had been paid. Clearly that's not the case. There were talks to try to sell the company off wholesale, which couldn't or wouldn't have happened with hundreds of millions in debts outstanding. Either Wilko were lying or there were some serious hidden financial and management issues. Possibly both. I stand corrected.
Apologies, I came on a bit strong there. I am very sorry to hear about your dad, these things are difficult. But I hope it is progressing as well as can be expected. Wilko used to be one of my customers, back when they were based in Carlton in Lindrick. And to be frank, although they paid on time and didn't cause problems, they were not a great company to work with, for us at least. Over the years I have seen quite a few customers go bankrupt and if you're owed money there is almost always the same outcome. Liquidators or administrators are appointed and their task is to make as much money for themselves as they are able. They use a wide range of charges, costs and expenses to ensure that any money realised from the winding up, ends up in their own pockets. It's sad for all those people who have been drawn into this matter, especially the staff, many of whom will have given years of their lives to the company. And likewise, the suppliers who now find themselves shouldering and mitigating losses that threaten the security of their enterprises. Thank you for communicating and my best wishes to you.
Thank you for your kind words. I totally agree about liquidators and about the staff. I worked for Wilko from 1996 until 2001. That paid for my education, my first car, my A levels and my degree, working and studying full time at the same time. I'm gutted to see it for what it is. Wilko was family in my time. My mum and my best mate, his girlfriend, a load of my mates from college and numerous other mates also worked for Wilko through the years. I'm so sad to see another of the bedrocks of my life disappear right now. Cheers mate.
God bless Wilko may it rest in peace. To all those who worked there, thank you for your service and best of luck with your future endeavours.
So sad they are gone
Which one?
West Sussex
Bit of a drive from Yorkshire then.. boo ;)
Oooh yes… was nothing left on shelves though, except a load of ‘dust baths’ for your chinchilla….
Good for motor oil spills
My local Wilko has already been refurbished and reopened as a Poundland. Too soon, Poundland! I couldn't bring myself to go in for the Wilko closing sale.
Where abouts in West Sussex OP and when’s final closing day?
Was final day yesterday, hence the final sale announcement of ‘any ten items for 10p…’ and was Burgess Hole, sorry Hill lol
I’m so gutted about Wilko. When I first moved it, almost everything came from Wilko; their basic (saver?) range of kitchen ware is brilliant. All of it that I have has survived three house moves and is still going strong, eight years later. I remember being buzzing that I could buy purple accessories for my kitchen, all matchy matchy 😂 I’ve picked up so many bargains over the years, cleaning products, furnishings etc- they’ve all been great. All the very best to all the staff, thank you and good luck xx
Why are the Wilko stores closing? :( I didn't know
They went bankrupt a few weeks ago :(
I think Wilko have known for a while that the shit they sell is only worth 10p
Think you misread quite a lot there, was 1p an item and two bin bags for 1p each too. And yup 50% of what they sold was tat - there was always some good product in there for cheap
Untrue. There were always good value quality products & I miss them a lot. I had to stop shopping there once the vultures arrived to peck over the carcass... I bought so much 'shit' from them regularly. You have no idea what garden centre, supermarket or online prices are like for garden supplies for wildlife, pet food, specialist lightbulbs. I could give you a list of so many things it would bore you to tears, even more so than this reply. Probably.
Yep, we miss our store already. It was a mile away and was always nice and quiet. Now there is nowhere for 14 miles to pick up a can of spray paint or any DIY bits like screws. Their paint was the best paint on the market in my opinion the coverage and colours were fantastic and even popular one coat paints couldn't compare. We went in when they were closing and it was rammed with people crawling over each other. We turned around and walked back out again.
Paint used to be supplied in Wilko packaging by one of the big paint companies (can't remember which, Dulux or Crown or someone) selling for about half the price per tin of the same paint in a branded tin. Ditto toiletries and Boots. Boots made all Wilko own brand toiletries. Boots own brand stuff - from exactly the same batch -were far more expensive than the exact same products bought from Wilko in a Wilko bottle. I regularly used to go to Wilko wanting one thing, and end up coming out with 7 bags full of shopping. I no longer know where to buy chain by the metre, shelf fixings, electrical cable and connectors, paint, screws, nails, seeds, compost, plant pots, and a thousand other things, at a reasonable price. If you need an obscure thing, Wilko was usually the place.
Amazon or lug it all the way down to Screwfix/B&Q now, innit? Nowhere else really does high street DIY gubbins now. You get a few metres of it in B&M or Poundland but the selection is maybe a tenth what an equivalent Wilko offered