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The owner of HMV has revealed he was within 12 hours of saving homeware chain Wilko and up to 10,000 jobs.<\/p>\n
Canadian tycoon Doug Putman claims the rescue was thwarted by a handful of the store\u2019s big suppliers.<\/p>\n
Wilko collapsed shortly afterwards in August, with 12,500 staff left out of work.<\/p>\n
Mr Putman, 39, who has breathed life into HMV since buying the record chain out of administration in 2019, said: \u201cWe had a deal, I flew in to sign it. We were 12 hours away.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he claimed that at the last minute firms responsible for the high street stalwart\u2019s IT systems refused to budge on fees they were due.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> Store closures announcements as Boots and Next to close this month<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Putnam said: \u201cBased on how expensive they would be for a four-month window, it was impossible to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that another sticking point was rent on Wilko\u2019s distribution centre, saying: \u201cOutside of that we would have a done deal. It would have been around 250 stores of the 325 stores that were left then. Around 9,000 or 10,000 jobs would have been saved.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were super disappointed. I was very upset, very frustrated.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes when you deal with big firms they are immovable.\u201d<\/p>\n Former bosses at Wilko are due to be grilled by a Commons committee of MPs on Tuesday. They include ex-chairman Lisa Wilkinson, whose family controlled the retailer.<\/p>\n Mr Putman was speaking ahead of the reopening of HMV\u2019s flagship store on London\u2019s Oxford Street yesterday after a \u00a31million refit.<\/p>\n The iconic shop, HMV\u2019s first to open in 1921, returns after a four-year absence. Madness helped to mark the big day by signing copies of their new album.<\/p>\n But Mr Putman, who is a Fleetwood Mac fan, rapped the Government for not doing more for \u201cbricks and mortar\u201d retailers on the high street. He said: \u201cYou can\u2019t keep solving problems by either taxation or forcing business to pay more.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/22\/590x\/secondary\/A-general-view-of-the-new-HMV-store-which-has-returned-to-Oxford-Street-5084457.jpg?r=1700867215338\")
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