Haverfordwest and Pembroke Dock Wilkos could close

Last week, it was announced that Wilko was to enter insolvency, and a list of the 408 stores which are at risk of closing have been released by the retailer.

The stores at risk of closing include one in Haverfordwest and one in Pembroke Dock, with a total of 12,000 jobs at risk all across the UK.

Other west Wales sites which could be closed include Ammanford, Carmarthen, Llanelli, Port Talbot, Morriston, Neath and Swansea.

Last week, Wilko’s chief executive officer, Mark Jackson, revealed the company expected to enter insolvency after failing to secure a takeover to help the business with ‘mounting cash pressures.’

The notice of intention to appoint administrators was filed at the High Court on Thursday, August 3.

It is more bad news for the company, which agreed a deal to borrow £40 million from Hilco – a restructuring specialist – in 2022 after posting significant losses and earlier this year, the company hired advisers from PwC to find a buyer and secure fresh funding.

Despite the filing for potential insolvency, the company is going to continue to search for a possible rescue takeover, according to Mr Jackson.

Mr Jackson said: "While we can confirm we’ve had a significant level of interest, including indicative offers that we believe would meet all our financial criteria to recapitalise the business, at present we don’t today (Thursday, August 3) have an offer that provides the necessary liquidity in the time we have available, given the mounting cash pressures we’re faced with.

“We’ll continue to progress discussions with interested parties with the aim of completing a transaction which preserves the business and will encourage those interested parties we’re in discussions with to move as fast as possible.

Mr Jackson added: “We continue to believe that our robust turnaround plan, with significant re-stabilisation cost savings in progress, will deliver a profitable Wilko and maximise the significant opportunities that we know exist.”