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GMB warned of “another nail in the high-street coffin” yesterday after homeware chain Wilko announced that it would close several shops across England and Wales this year.
The union said more than 330 jobs could be lost as 16 stores face the axe. The company disputed that figure, saying 15 locations are under consideration for closure.
Each branch will have a 30-day consultation period, while recruitment of permanent staff in the vicinity will be frozen, GMB said.
GMB national officer Roger Jenkins, who confirmed that the union would meet members to discuss its next steps after the “devastating” news, called on councils and landlords to review Wilko’s stores’ commercial leases and offer lower rents.
His appeal came after Wilko said that it was keen to “work with landlords for more favourable terms.”
Mr Jenkins added: “Empty high streets and shopping centres are in no-one’s interest, but with 400 shops a week closing, this is inevitable unless the costs of premises can be reduced.”
According to GMB, the affected stores are in Bournemouth, Stockton-on-Tees, Birmingham (The Fort), Shipley, Scunthorpe, Leicester (Narborough Road), Grantham, Redditch, Rotherham, Skegness, Sutton Coldfield, north London (Edmonton Green), Cleethorpes, Llanelli, Merthyr Tydfil and Orpington.
However, Wilko did not include Orpington on its list of branches set to close.
Company chairman Jerome Saint-Marc said: “As a business, we’re evolving and this includes working with landlords for more favourable terms, as well as looking at locations and store formats.
“We’ll be doing everything we can to support our affected team members, who will be offered any available positions in nearby stores.”
The firm, which apologised to the communities involved, claimed that 11 of the shops set to disappear have an alternative “within a five-mile radius.”