{"id":44148,"date":"2023-11-28T12:59:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T12:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/histarmar.net\/?p=44148"},"modified":"2023-11-28T12:59:02","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T12:59:02","slug":"wilkos-enormous-mistake-that-could-have-been-beginning-of-end-for-retailer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/histarmar.net\/world-news\/wilkos-enormous-mistake-that-could-have-been-beginning-of-end-for-retailer\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilko’s ‘enormous mistake’ that could have been beginning of end for retailer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wilko’s former chief executive has said that “the start of Wilko’s problems” might have come with “an enormous mistake” that it made in 2018.<\/p>\n

Mark Jackson said: “There was a big loss in 2018\/19, which was referred to – and I have to say it’s conjecture – as the start of Wilko’s problems.”<\/p>\n

“It bought all of its Far East products in US dollars. It took out forward-rate contracts to fix the price it was buying at, and it made an enormous mistake.<\/p>\n

“And there was, I believe, a loss in the region of \u00a340million.”<\/p>\n

Mr Jackson, who joined the company in December 2022, also revealed that Wilko came close to finding a rescue deal, but ultimately failed.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong> Wilko’s ex-boss issues grovelling apology over job losses but takes aim at Truss<\/strong><\/p>\n

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He said: “I knew what I was coming into. I came in knowing that the business was in distress and that there was a window of opportunity to turn it around.<\/p>\n

“I still think it was a decent opportunity. A number of things went against us. I still think this business should exist and I think somebody should have invested in it.”<\/p>\n

He added: “The management team went to around 20 private equity types of investors as well as debt providers, and we got very close.”<\/p>\n

Asked why the opportunity was not seized, he said: “Because we couldn’t get the funders to back it. It was pursued; I knocked down an awful lot of doors more than once.<\/p>\n

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“We had interested parties right up to the beginning of August who were really keen to save the business and, I thought, still a very good chance of doing so.<\/p>\n

“Ultimately, the amount of security in the balance sheet was falling every day… the amount secured lenders were prepared to lend was reducing.”<\/p>\n

The revelations come during a business and trade committee hearing on the collapse of Wilko, involving witnesses such as Wilko’s former chair Lisa Wilkinson as well as business minister Kevin Hollinrake.<\/p>\n

Wilko collapsed in August leaving 12,000 workers facing redundancy.<\/p>\n

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