Wilko staff in Worksop face redundancy as job losses mount

As reported on BBC, Wilko’s Worksop distribution centre and digital operations are set to lose 237 more jobs, adding to a growing tally of local redundancies

Staff working in the distribution centre and digital operations in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, learned they were being made redundant on Tuesday.

The announcement takes the total number of Wilko job losses locally to 520.

Bassetlaw District Council said it was working closely with the government to help those affected find new jobs.

The GMB Union said 220 jobs would be lost at the distribution centre in the town along with 17 in digital operations.

This comes on top of the 269 support centre staff and 14 others at Kin Limited – a subsidiary firm of Wilko also based in Worksop – whose jobs were cut on Monday.

More than 1,000 job cuts have also been announced across 52 high street stores due to close next week as well as 79 at the Wilko distribution centre near Newport, Wales.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, councillor James Naish, leader of Bassetlaw District Council, said: “The news of further redundancies is another blow to everyone linked with Wilko and Bassetlaw.

“We continue to be in regular contact with the administrators, the unions and other stakeholders to ensure that we are ready to support Wilko employees.

“This includes working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions and their Rapid Response Service to assess the range of areas affected by redundancy in order to match the skill sets of those being made redundant with potential opportunities and employers within the local area.”

Rival retailer B&M has agreed to buy 51 physical Wilko stores in a £13m deal.